This is what a real sniper looks like, fuck you Call of Duty with your quick-scope/360 no-scope bullshit. Now, with that out of the way, onto the review.
Sniper Elite V2 is an apparent sequel and remake to the first, I never played the first myself. I originally got this for the PS3 but completed it on 360. I played through the entire game with a friend, this game is a fun game in co-op. However, if you want to be able to stealth through it, then single-player is the best way. Less chance of getting caught on your own.
The game is set in WW2, you play as- hmm, I don't even know... You play as some guy in WW2, equipped with a sniper. The guy you play as was incredibly bland and didn't even stand out in appearance, the story was also bland. Basically the game is fun, everything else is bland, but it has some really good gameplay and some great mechanics.
The graphics are ok in this game, I'd expect more considering it's quite recent. The hair looks terrible though, it looks plastic, like you're playing a video game of an Action Man doll that came to life! (I miss Action Man come to think of it.) The sound-work in this game is incredible, just the sound of the boots as you're sprinting is great. But it is pretty bland elsewhere, a short and not very engaging storyline. No characters to like and a boring playable character. It may be a sniper, war game, but it needed more in these elements to improve it.
One thing I did like, is how it actually forces you to use your sniper. That may sound weird given the name of the game, but hear me out; the pistol is incredibly difficult to kill enemies with unless your close, due to the huge reticle aim, the machine gun has next to no bullets and you never find much ammo, thus using your sniper! You do get a whole load of other gear to use too, you get trip mines, grenades and even a rock, which you can use to throw and distract enemies with.
Here's the best thing in the game though; X-ray kill-cam. These truly are a thing of beauty, there's nothing better than watching the camera follow your bullet and fly through an enemy soilder as it shows their skeleton and organs, as you see the bullet pierce them and destroy where ever you hit them from the inside. It's incredibly satisfying seeing the bullet shattered the skull or explode a lung, vulgur in text, but trust me on this. I don't feel there was enough X-ray kills. The bullet cams are good too, but compared to the X-ray bullet cams, they are boring. You have no silencer either, which makes the game much more difficult, but being able to mask the sound of your shot by nearby noises is a great feature. As well as the story the game has some other modes you can play in co-op, but they can get boring fast but they do add a little more.
The game as always came with some bugs and issues. Not being able to go prone despite nothing being in the way as a sniper shot at me was frustrating. While taking cover at a destroyed tank, the camera started to shake vigorously. Couldn't fit through a gap that was big enough to walk through, thanks to the incredible invisible walls. Would sink into the ground as you walked up structures and steps. You were forced to trigger the enemy spawns, meaning you would often have to put yourself out in the open to proceed, which often end up with needing to be revived. Speaking of the reviving, it was awful, a huge delay from trying to revive eachother resulted in having to hold the button to revive many times and that it would take you out of prone and force you to crouch, making you a much easier target to shoot.
This game is really fun with some great features. I'm not surprised a third was released and soon to be a fourth. I am surprised at its apparent Game of the Year release though, still not sure if it is a legit GotY. Too much blandness lowers this game's score, but I do look forward to the next releases.
7/10
Sunday 24 July 2016
Tuesday 5 July 2016
Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360)
Well, this is were it all began. Assassin's Creed, who'd have thought this would become a series that never stopped. It was also one of the first games that kick-started my wonderful Xbox 360 career. Let's eagle dive into this one ;)
The first in the everlasting series, released back in 2007. This game didn't really age well, but what do you expect, it is very old now. Set in the Third Crusade, in Jerusalem, we play as a disgraced assassin, Altair and also Desmond, in present day. Desmond, taken in by Abstergo to explore his ancestors memories, by entering the Animus. The Animus is a sort of bed, that delves into the minds of the subject and is capable of exploring the ancestors lives of the subject.
The game is fun, being able to climb practically every building in sight, no matter how tall. Free running over the rooftops, sword fighting, riding horses. It's all fun. Across the many AC games, this has my favourite combat. The counter move is the most useful asset, it comes in handy when you end up in a fight against thirty people. The introduction of the hidden blade started here, being able to walk up undetected and then take out your target in one quick attack can save you an intense battle.
The game started off much simpler than it's followers, find information on the target and then kill them. The problem was that the game was repetitive, doing the same kind of investigations, interrogating people, eavesdropping and pickpocketing and then reporting back before you started the assassination of your target. It started off great, it was different, it was new and exciting. It sadly deflated pretty quickly when you realised it was the same thing. Altair was dull and boring, I'm certain he wasn't capable of emotions. His outfit is one of my favourites throughout the series though. The other characters were boring too, I just didn't care about them and don't even get me started on Desmond!
I loved the game at the time, but we were miss-sold. We were expecting it to be set in the past, yes it was, but we were really in the present day, entering a sort of time machine back to the past. I remember thinking "what the fuck is this", when I was first placed in the modern era. It slowed the game down, being taken in and out of the Animus, although the modern story makes more sense the further it goes, but I can't help think that this game should've been strictly set in the past and got closer to the present each game.
The architecture was beautiful, the scenery, the landscapes, all great. Travelling to each city was a pain though, it was nice riding on a horse at first because it made it seem like you could travel a lot with the horse. You can't, you can only go to each city and when you're there, you have to be on foot. It was far too big as well, it took ages to get to each city and there was nothing to do in between. It also never made sense how you would alert guards just by running by or sprinting with the horse. It was so frustrating how often guards would engage in combat when you were just exploring the city.
There's a good alert system that lets you know when you're being watched, when you're detected and when you're safe or hidden. You can also blend in with scholars and using them as a moving hiding spot to sneak through guarded areas. Another cool thing is the Eagle vision, it highlights guards in red and the assassination target gold. There's also the eagle dive, where you jump off a building and safely land in a hay barrel, it's cool but very unlikely you'd survive. We don't play games for them to be life-like do we?
I never expected this game to get as many sequels/spin offs and even a movie after this game, despite how much I liked it. I'm glad they changed the character and setting and it's always something to look forward to where it'll be set next. For the first time, we're getting a break from the annual release since the first game, although the movie is out this year...
7.5/10
The first in the everlasting series, released back in 2007. This game didn't really age well, but what do you expect, it is very old now. Set in the Third Crusade, in Jerusalem, we play as a disgraced assassin, Altair and also Desmond, in present day. Desmond, taken in by Abstergo to explore his ancestors memories, by entering the Animus. The Animus is a sort of bed, that delves into the minds of the subject and is capable of exploring the ancestors lives of the subject.
The game is fun, being able to climb practically every building in sight, no matter how tall. Free running over the rooftops, sword fighting, riding horses. It's all fun. Across the many AC games, this has my favourite combat. The counter move is the most useful asset, it comes in handy when you end up in a fight against thirty people. The introduction of the hidden blade started here, being able to walk up undetected and then take out your target in one quick attack can save you an intense battle.
The game started off much simpler than it's followers, find information on the target and then kill them. The problem was that the game was repetitive, doing the same kind of investigations, interrogating people, eavesdropping and pickpocketing and then reporting back before you started the assassination of your target. It started off great, it was different, it was new and exciting. It sadly deflated pretty quickly when you realised it was the same thing. Altair was dull and boring, I'm certain he wasn't capable of emotions. His outfit is one of my favourites throughout the series though. The other characters were boring too, I just didn't care about them and don't even get me started on Desmond!
I loved the game at the time, but we were miss-sold. We were expecting it to be set in the past, yes it was, but we were really in the present day, entering a sort of time machine back to the past. I remember thinking "what the fuck is this", when I was first placed in the modern era. It slowed the game down, being taken in and out of the Animus, although the modern story makes more sense the further it goes, but I can't help think that this game should've been strictly set in the past and got closer to the present each game.
The architecture was beautiful, the scenery, the landscapes, all great. Travelling to each city was a pain though, it was nice riding on a horse at first because it made it seem like you could travel a lot with the horse. You can't, you can only go to each city and when you're there, you have to be on foot. It was far too big as well, it took ages to get to each city and there was nothing to do in between. It also never made sense how you would alert guards just by running by or sprinting with the horse. It was so frustrating how often guards would engage in combat when you were just exploring the city.
There's a good alert system that lets you know when you're being watched, when you're detected and when you're safe or hidden. You can also blend in with scholars and using them as a moving hiding spot to sneak through guarded areas. Another cool thing is the Eagle vision, it highlights guards in red and the assassination target gold. There's also the eagle dive, where you jump off a building and safely land in a hay barrel, it's cool but very unlikely you'd survive. We don't play games for them to be life-like do we?
I never expected this game to get as many sequels/spin offs and even a movie after this game, despite how much I liked it. I'm glad they changed the character and setting and it's always something to look forward to where it'll be set next. For the first time, we're getting a break from the annual release since the first game, although the movie is out this year...
7.5/10
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