The first of the workshop DLC's, neon signs? Arena fights? The main features for you settlers to feast their eyes on.
Neon signs look great lit up, all you need is power to light them up. They come in handy too, if you're building your settlements up, neon lights can look great on your creations, with the ability to have open signs or create your own worded and numbered signs.
The main attraction is definitely the arena fights. Build up cages for specific creatures and leave them for some time, to find the door shut and the exact creature inside. The cages you can build include deathclaws, super mutants, raiders and a lot more. Set the beasts up against each other and gather all your settlers to give them entertainment in the barren wasteland. Does this not entertain you?!
The arena is quite gimmicky and pretty hard to understand at first. I had to watch videos on just how to set it up and get creatures to fight each other. Often when the creatures were released they just attacked each other and all the settlers fought them too, before I could even set anything up. I built a whole arena and ended up just scrapping it because I didn't think it was worth it.
The arena was a nice idea, and for those that liked it, I can't imagine they used it a lot. I got bored of it pretty quickly. I found more uses for the neon signs to be honest.
2.4/5
Monday, 29 May 2017
Thursday, 25 May 2017
Uncharted 4 (PS4)
“Nathan Drake: That two-bit thief. Risking it all for some piece of treasure. I guess that’s how they know me, how they’ll remember me…..but that’s not who I am.”
May 2016, the month the last Uncharted game released... for now. The first Uncharted on the PlayStation 4, and a continuation in to Nathan Drake's story, possibly, for the final time. The now retired treasure hunter may have to come out retirement to save his older brother, Sam, by finding the treasure of Captain Avery. Of course, they're not the only ones searching for the treasure. Rafe, an old "friend" of Nate and Sam, who they originally planned to find the treasure with. Along with Rafe, is the leader of the Shoreline mercenary group, Nadine. Returns for the brilliant Sully and Elena also appear.
Amazing graphics. The people and lip syncing 10/10, the expressions and facial detail is off the charts and the stunning and gorgeous visuals. The voice acting and chemistry between all the characters is again, brilliant. The exposition and optional conversations are a joy to listen to, and getting Troy Baker into the mix was an excellent decision. Of course, no one outshines Nolan North as Nathan Drake.
The weren't a lot of new features, already the optional conversations that follow the same path as the ones from The Last of Us. Other new collectables include journal entries, where you'll actually see Drake document in his journal (which you'll get to look in when you desire). The rope was heavily used as well as the new sliding mechanic. The rope would let you swing across gaps and climb up/down to traverse. Sliding would let you descend down areas quickly and would often result in your death if you didn't jump over gaps or slide away from obstacles. Double time takedowns appear rarely, but are cool to watch, driving is new and it's quite enjoyable, especially with the fantastic sights. Drake now aims his arms when you're platforming, so you know exactly where he's going to jump to. My favourite new feature, one on one boss fights. I love them, a great way to give you an intense fight, especially when one of them is a sword fight. En garde!
We've been given little back story to Nate's past, but seeing as he had a brother out of know where, we needed some. We get to play as a young Nate on an adventure with his brother and we see him turn from a boy, into the great Nathan Drake. We're also treated to a trip down memory lane in an early chapter, in Nate's attic we can browse all sorts of trinkets and memorabilia across the previous three games. There's even a part where Nate practices his shooting with a toy gun. A lot of praise to Naughty Dog for adding a Crash Bandicoot easter egg where Nate actually plays the original game.
Stealth has been added to and implemented a lot more, there are now alert bars, so you know when you're in the clear and there is a lot of tall grass for you to manouver through. The stealth has been improved immensely. Another handy feature is the grapplehook, swing across big gaps, but it looks awkward the way it retracts. You can also use a winch on your car to help you. Kill shots appear red, giving you an indicator on when you're wiping out enemies. When the secondary characters are talking and you're all in the car together, if you leave, they react and when you return, they carry on the conversation from where they left off. It's great that they put that much detail in. Sometimes your friend will tell you where enemies are or if you've lost them, you can use the D-pad to find them.
Rafe is by far the best villain across the whole series, he's made better with the boss fight with Nate. Some of the best puzzles and action scenes. There's even a prison breakout. The hard difficulty can be really challenging at parts, but others just felt like grenade spamming feeling cheap. With the title of the game, there was so much speculation of how it would end. I was terrified of some of the possibilities, I obviously won't spoil, but if they do choose to continue Uncharted, there are so many different directions they could take after the way this one ends.
Uncharted is easily one of the best game series of all time and Nathan Drake is one of the best protagonist ever made. Simple as that. Goodbye Nate, it's been an absolute pleasure.
*Uncharted theme plays*
9.3/10
May 2016, the month the last Uncharted game released... for now. The first Uncharted on the PlayStation 4, and a continuation in to Nathan Drake's story, possibly, for the final time. The now retired treasure hunter may have to come out retirement to save his older brother, Sam, by finding the treasure of Captain Avery. Of course, they're not the only ones searching for the treasure. Rafe, an old "friend" of Nate and Sam, who they originally planned to find the treasure with. Along with Rafe, is the leader of the Shoreline mercenary group, Nadine. Returns for the brilliant Sully and Elena also appear.
Amazing graphics. The people and lip syncing 10/10, the expressions and facial detail is off the charts and the stunning and gorgeous visuals. The voice acting and chemistry between all the characters is again, brilliant. The exposition and optional conversations are a joy to listen to, and getting Troy Baker into the mix was an excellent decision. Of course, no one outshines Nolan North as Nathan Drake.
The weren't a lot of new features, already the optional conversations that follow the same path as the ones from The Last of Us. Other new collectables include journal entries, where you'll actually see Drake document in his journal (which you'll get to look in when you desire). The rope was heavily used as well as the new sliding mechanic. The rope would let you swing across gaps and climb up/down to traverse. Sliding would let you descend down areas quickly and would often result in your death if you didn't jump over gaps or slide away from obstacles. Double time takedowns appear rarely, but are cool to watch, driving is new and it's quite enjoyable, especially with the fantastic sights. Drake now aims his arms when you're platforming, so you know exactly where he's going to jump to. My favourite new feature, one on one boss fights. I love them, a great way to give you an intense fight, especially when one of them is a sword fight. En garde!
We've been given little back story to Nate's past, but seeing as he had a brother out of know where, we needed some. We get to play as a young Nate on an adventure with his brother and we see him turn from a boy, into the great Nathan Drake. We're also treated to a trip down memory lane in an early chapter, in Nate's attic we can browse all sorts of trinkets and memorabilia across the previous three games. There's even a part where Nate practices his shooting with a toy gun. A lot of praise to Naughty Dog for adding a Crash Bandicoot easter egg where Nate actually plays the original game.
Stealth has been added to and implemented a lot more, there are now alert bars, so you know when you're in the clear and there is a lot of tall grass for you to manouver through. The stealth has been improved immensely. Another handy feature is the grapplehook, swing across big gaps, but it looks awkward the way it retracts. You can also use a winch on your car to help you. Kill shots appear red, giving you an indicator on when you're wiping out enemies. When the secondary characters are talking and you're all in the car together, if you leave, they react and when you return, they carry on the conversation from where they left off. It's great that they put that much detail in. Sometimes your friend will tell you where enemies are or if you've lost them, you can use the D-pad to find them.
Rafe is by far the best villain across the whole series, he's made better with the boss fight with Nate. Some of the best puzzles and action scenes. There's even a prison breakout. The hard difficulty can be really challenging at parts, but others just felt like grenade spamming feeling cheap. With the title of the game, there was so much speculation of how it would end. I was terrified of some of the possibilities, I obviously won't spoil, but if they do choose to continue Uncharted, there are so many different directions they could take after the way this one ends.
Uncharted is easily one of the best game series of all time and Nathan Drake is one of the best protagonist ever made. Simple as that. Goodbye Nate, it's been an absolute pleasure.
*Uncharted theme plays*
9.3/10
Monday, 22 May 2017
Fallout 4: Contraptions Workshop DLC (Xbox One)
Contraptions was the second workshop DLC, meaning mo story missions, only workshop content, meaning it's all about building things for your settlements.
Easily the biggest addition, building your own machines. These machines can build so many things and can practically be an ammo dispenser. Instead of buying ammo, you can create your own, this DLC literally saves you money... well caps. Using "junk" you scavenge through the wasteland and a terminal to tell you what you need to make what, crafting your own ammo is simple.
You can also build mannequins and display cases to show off your legendary outfits and unique weapons. I've built my own museum of sorts, that displays all my legendary weapons and outfits that I'm not currently using. It's great to look at all the gear on display in one place.
Not much else to add really, was a tiny add on, but with a very useful addition. A great way to use junk and create ammo, and save you caps!
3.5/5
Easily the biggest addition, building your own machines. These machines can build so many things and can practically be an ammo dispenser. Instead of buying ammo, you can create your own, this DLC literally saves you money... well caps. Using "junk" you scavenge through the wasteland and a terminal to tell you what you need to make what, crafting your own ammo is simple.
You can also build mannequins and display cases to show off your legendary outfits and unique weapons. I've built my own museum of sorts, that displays all my legendary weapons and outfits that I'm not currently using. It's great to look at all the gear on display in one place.
Not much else to add really, was a tiny add on, but with a very useful addition. A great way to use junk and create ammo, and save you caps!
3.5/5
Thursday, 18 May 2017
Fallout 4: Automatron DLC (Xbox One)
Automatron was the first story DLC for Fallout 4, with a trip down memory lane to Fallout 3, we once again meet the robot army leader, The Mechanist.
Only four missions long, and one is over before you even know you've started. Evil hordes of robots roam the Commonwealth and even attack your settlements. You are tasked with stopping The Mechanist and they're army. A choice ending and an unexpected twist make this an interesting piece of content.
You are given a new companion, a friendly robot by the name of Ada. To the biggest feature, your able to create your own robots. Sounds pretty awesome right? It's simple too. Collect robot mods from destroyed ones, build a robot building station and you're good to go. You're able to build a bunch of robots, you can make your own Assaultrons, Sentry Bots and others, you can also customise Ada to how you want.
There were only a few missions, but I enjoyed them, I think this was more of a workshop DLC that they decided to add missions to. The main feature was building your own robots, something you'll still be doing long after the questline.
3.7/5
Only four missions long, and one is over before you even know you've started. Evil hordes of robots roam the Commonwealth and even attack your settlements. You are tasked with stopping The Mechanist and they're army. A choice ending and an unexpected twist make this an interesting piece of content.
You are given a new companion, a friendly robot by the name of Ada. To the biggest feature, your able to create your own robots. Sounds pretty awesome right? It's simple too. Collect robot mods from destroyed ones, build a robot building station and you're good to go. You're able to build a bunch of robots, you can make your own Assaultrons, Sentry Bots and others, you can also customise Ada to how you want.
There were only a few missions, but I enjoyed them, I think this was more of a workshop DLC that they decided to add missions to. The main feature was building your own robots, something you'll still be doing long after the questline.
3.7/5
Monday, 15 May 2017
Fallout 4: Vault-Tec Workshop DLC (Xbox One)
One of three workshop add ons, but this one comes with a few missions to add that little extra. The main addition is the ability to build your own vault. You are taken to vault 88, and when you get there, there is an overseer and a wide open space for you to build your new vault.
The overseer gives you a task to build some equip and bring in some vault dwellers. The dwellers are then used for the overseers experiment. You have to build certain machines and then assign a dweller to it and let some time pass. The experiment aren't torturous, so don't worry, but I will keep them a secret. These are the basics of the DLC's missions, you don't really do much and there are only three or four.
I was really intrigued by the whole ordeal at first, but then when it came to the end, I thought it was pretty pointless and a let down. My favourite thing was just trying to build my own vault. As it stands, I've built the base of my vault and now need to start building it up, it's going to be a long process, but very cool if I do it right.
Not much else to say as workshop add ons don't add a whole lot and the questline was pretty disapointing. Worth buying on a sale and certainly worth a go if you own the season pass.
2.6/5
The overseer gives you a task to build some equip and bring in some vault dwellers. The dwellers are then used for the overseers experiment. You have to build certain machines and then assign a dweller to it and let some time pass. The experiment aren't torturous, so don't worry, but I will keep them a secret. These are the basics of the DLC's missions, you don't really do much and there are only three or four.
I was really intrigued by the whole ordeal at first, but then when it came to the end, I thought it was pretty pointless and a let down. My favourite thing was just trying to build my own vault. As it stands, I've built the base of my vault and now need to start building it up, it's going to be a long process, but very cool if I do it right.
Not much else to say as workshop add ons don't add a whole lot and the questline was pretty disapointing. Worth buying on a sale and certainly worth a go if you own the season pass.
2.6/5
Thursday, 11 May 2017
GoldenEye 007: Reloaded (Xbox 360)
GoldenEye 007: Reloaded is a remake of the N64 game, GoldenEye 007 and a modern version of the 1995 movie, GoldenEye. The Bond featured is now Daniel Craig, as opposed to Pierce Brosnan, from the film. As well as Daniel Craig, the real M and Tanner also feature from the current movies.
The story although similar to the original film, it's also different and has some missions that aren't in the film to make it more of a game. I won't spoil the plot, but the missions have you often infiltrating and stealthing through, as well as big gun fights and the usual Bond villian and Bond girl. 007, along with 006 work together at infiltrating a chemical weapons facility, that apparently have plans to use their weapon against the British embassies.
Similar to the previous Daniel Craig/James Bond games, Quantum of Solace and Bloodstone. You can often utilise stealth, with a silencer attached to your pistol, takedowns and even finding some other, already silenced weapons. You can carry three weapons at a time, but you always have you silenced pistol, unless you take the silencer off. The hit detection seemed really off, I often melee attacked an enemy and it didn't look like I hit them, and they just fell down. There was no blood, or even bullets hitting people, it seemed so PG. Bodies even dissappeared right before your eyes. You can't even jump!
As a first person shooter, it does that part well, the mechanics work and it's quite fun. Targets lock when you aim close, you can shoot over cover. But it seems cheap, you don't have grenades, the enemy spam grenades and will throw them from impossible positions. You can't shoot through clear gaps and will often have floating bullet holes in the air. The hardest difficulty isn't hard at all, just your health never regenerates. You just need to be careful, it just wasn't a challenge.
I really liked the graphics, I remember when I first played it, I was amazed by how good 006 and 007 looked. The story was pretty disapointing though, it just seemed to bounce around to all different countries. The final boss fight was just a huge bullet sponge. There was a tank mission that was so out of place and was just completely terrible. It was developed by Activision and the tank mission just screams of 'CALL OF DUTY'. Activision, not everything needs to be Call of Duty-fied. You weren't told about your secondary objectives and there was no clear direction of being told to redo an objective of your died and had to retry. Let's forget about the part where you're kidnapped and placed in a pilot seat with a missile projected at you, but for some reason your kidnappers place you inches from the ejector seat button.
If you just wanna play a good first person shooter, with pretty good stealth, then this is your game. But if you wanna play a great game and story, then maybe avoid. It's not a bad game, James Bond fans should definitely play this one. I am a fan of the games and I'd like another, seeing as there hasn't been one for a while. Just leave Call of Duty to CoD, please Activision.
6.8/10
The story although similar to the original film, it's also different and has some missions that aren't in the film to make it more of a game. I won't spoil the plot, but the missions have you often infiltrating and stealthing through, as well as big gun fights and the usual Bond villian and Bond girl. 007, along with 006 work together at infiltrating a chemical weapons facility, that apparently have plans to use their weapon against the British embassies.
Similar to the previous Daniel Craig/James Bond games, Quantum of Solace and Bloodstone. You can often utilise stealth, with a silencer attached to your pistol, takedowns and even finding some other, already silenced weapons. You can carry three weapons at a time, but you always have you silenced pistol, unless you take the silencer off. The hit detection seemed really off, I often melee attacked an enemy and it didn't look like I hit them, and they just fell down. There was no blood, or even bullets hitting people, it seemed so PG. Bodies even dissappeared right before your eyes. You can't even jump!
As a first person shooter, it does that part well, the mechanics work and it's quite fun. Targets lock when you aim close, you can shoot over cover. But it seems cheap, you don't have grenades, the enemy spam grenades and will throw them from impossible positions. You can't shoot through clear gaps and will often have floating bullet holes in the air. The hardest difficulty isn't hard at all, just your health never regenerates. You just need to be careful, it just wasn't a challenge.
I really liked the graphics, I remember when I first played it, I was amazed by how good 006 and 007 looked. The story was pretty disapointing though, it just seemed to bounce around to all different countries. The final boss fight was just a huge bullet sponge. There was a tank mission that was so out of place and was just completely terrible. It was developed by Activision and the tank mission just screams of 'CALL OF DUTY'. Activision, not everything needs to be Call of Duty-fied. You weren't told about your secondary objectives and there was no clear direction of being told to redo an objective of your died and had to retry. Let's forget about the part where you're kidnapped and placed in a pilot seat with a missile projected at you, but for some reason your kidnappers place you inches from the ejector seat button.
If you just wanna play a good first person shooter, with pretty good stealth, then this is your game. But if you wanna play a great game and story, then maybe avoid. It's not a bad game, James Bond fans should definitely play this one. I am a fan of the games and I'd like another, seeing as there hasn't been one for a while. Just leave Call of Duty to CoD, please Activision.
6.8/10
Thursday, 4 May 2017
Valiant Hearts (Xbox One)
Valiant Hearts is a UbiArt game, released in 2014, and thanks to the Games With Gold program, a free purchase for me. A side-scrolling, puzzle game set during the first world war, it follows the story of a group who are all connected to each other and their stories during the war.
A family is torn about due to the war, Karl, is deported from his family and enlisted into the German army, his father-in-law, is drafted into the French army. Baron Von Dorf is a high ranking member of the German army, Karl serves his battalion. Emile befriends an American soldier, Freddie, together they form a great friendship in the face of war. Emile was captured and breaks free from Von Dorf's clutches and Freddie's family were killed in a bombing raid from Von Dorf. Through their journey, they meet Anna, a battlefield medic and a doberman helper, Walt. Anna is tracking Von Dorf, as he kidnapped her father to build advanced war machines. The three become a force in their hunt for Von Dorf.
The style and art of this game has been knocked out of the park, Ubisoft need to keep this stellar design with the UbiArt engine. The music is beautiful, it's so fitting and that alone will bring tears to your eyes. Amazing visuals and beautiful soundwork aside, the story and characters are emotional and heroic, you want them to succeed and you want them to survive. There is no dialogue through the characters, but you know exactly how they're feeling. The only dialogue you get through the characters, are speech bubbles with pictures that indicate what you need to do. The story is told through excellent narration and never has you question what's happening, as you're guided through where each character is and what is going on.
You are accompanied by your dog companion, Walt, for the majority of the game. The chemistry which each character and the dog is clearly shown and they all care about each other. You can command Walt to pick up items, pull switches and bring your items. Walt will help you solve a lot of puzzles, but you'll have to explore around to find useful items to solve the puzzles. I loved the puzzles and even the boss battles. The game is very similar to the Monkey Island series, in its puzzle solving. You can also pick up grenades and weapons to strike down enemies, but for ninety percent of the game, you'll be stealthing and running for your life, as opposed to actually fighting, that's not what this games is about. There are also some vehicle missions, taxi missions are really fun, you avoid enemy vehicles and bombs while amazing music plays, and the commotion you're avoiding is in time with the music.
It may be cartoony, but it certainly doesn't sugar-coat war. This is easily one of the most emotionally, heartbreaking stories I've ever played. In some missions your character can manouver around enemies by wearing German soldier diguises, another threat would be the poison gas, that's an instant death. When in friendly areas, you can help people. You can pull them out of wreckages, help them find or someone. When playing as Anna, her medic abilities are in the form of quick time events. They are pretty hit and miss, sometimes you'll hit it no problem, the next you're left wondering why it didn't register.
It's an incredibly powerful story and an emotional ending. This is without a doubt one of the best games Ubisoft has came out with in recent years, and it needs to be played by everyone. The ending has certainly gave an opportunity for a sequel, and I for one am up for the ride.
7.9/10
A family is torn about due to the war, Karl, is deported from his family and enlisted into the German army, his father-in-law, is drafted into the French army. Baron Von Dorf is a high ranking member of the German army, Karl serves his battalion. Emile befriends an American soldier, Freddie, together they form a great friendship in the face of war. Emile was captured and breaks free from Von Dorf's clutches and Freddie's family were killed in a bombing raid from Von Dorf. Through their journey, they meet Anna, a battlefield medic and a doberman helper, Walt. Anna is tracking Von Dorf, as he kidnapped her father to build advanced war machines. The three become a force in their hunt for Von Dorf.
The style and art of this game has been knocked out of the park, Ubisoft need to keep this stellar design with the UbiArt engine. The music is beautiful, it's so fitting and that alone will bring tears to your eyes. Amazing visuals and beautiful soundwork aside, the story and characters are emotional and heroic, you want them to succeed and you want them to survive. There is no dialogue through the characters, but you know exactly how they're feeling. The only dialogue you get through the characters, are speech bubbles with pictures that indicate what you need to do. The story is told through excellent narration and never has you question what's happening, as you're guided through where each character is and what is going on.
You are accompanied by your dog companion, Walt, for the majority of the game. The chemistry which each character and the dog is clearly shown and they all care about each other. You can command Walt to pick up items, pull switches and bring your items. Walt will help you solve a lot of puzzles, but you'll have to explore around to find useful items to solve the puzzles. I loved the puzzles and even the boss battles. The game is very similar to the Monkey Island series, in its puzzle solving. You can also pick up grenades and weapons to strike down enemies, but for ninety percent of the game, you'll be stealthing and running for your life, as opposed to actually fighting, that's not what this games is about. There are also some vehicle missions, taxi missions are really fun, you avoid enemy vehicles and bombs while amazing music plays, and the commotion you're avoiding is in time with the music.
It may be cartoony, but it certainly doesn't sugar-coat war. This is easily one of the most emotionally, heartbreaking stories I've ever played. In some missions your character can manouver around enemies by wearing German soldier diguises, another threat would be the poison gas, that's an instant death. When in friendly areas, you can help people. You can pull them out of wreckages, help them find or someone. When playing as Anna, her medic abilities are in the form of quick time events. They are pretty hit and miss, sometimes you'll hit it no problem, the next you're left wondering why it didn't register.
It's an incredibly powerful story and an emotional ending. This is without a doubt one of the best games Ubisoft has came out with in recent years, and it needs to be played by everyone. The ending has certainly gave an opportunity for a sequel, and I for one am up for the ride.
7.9/10
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