American Nightmare is sort of a sequel to Alan Wake. It's an arcade game, so in essence, it's pretty short.
Alan is trapped in The Dark Place and is I'm a cycle that's in a constant repeat and the only way for Alan to get free is to break that cycle. Up against Mr Scratch, an evil doppelganger of Alan, he berates Alan and constantly reminds him he's trapped and will lose everyone he's after loved.
The story has Alan at a motel, then an observatory and finally a drive in theatre. You actuality do all three parts of the story three times.... The game literally repeats itself three times. Does that sound fun? Because it's not. It's fine the first time, but it gets old real quick. Thankfully, the same sections get a bit quicker after the first set.
The whole game is presented as an episode of Night Springs, Alan Wake's knock off version of The Twilight Zone. The graphics look ok, but when you see the side characters they're noticeably bad. The voice acting on those side characters are also really flat and hard to listen to. The same actor returns to voice Alan, as well as the manuscripts make a return, they are again great to listen to. There are also real life scenes, Mr Scratch as appears as a real life actor on TV screens of him recording videos for Alan, they're actually really cringey to watch at times. There's also optional conversations, but the poor voice acting makes them a chore to do.
There are a ton of new weapons, smgs, assault rifles, new shotguns, snipers, lots! It no longer feels like a survivor horror and feels a lot more action orientated. Ammo is never scarce. There are a few new enemy types, some are really cool too, there's spiders, big guys with chainsaws, splitters that 'split' into more enemies if you shine your torch at them and my favourite, the bird men, they fly as birds then land as people and revert back to birds if you don't kill them fast enough. You now have to boost your light at enemies to get it to work, you can't just point it at them to do minimal damage, that was a pain to get user to.
Now onto what was easily the best part, the arcade mode. It was survival were you had to hold of against waves of enemies for ten minutes at a time. It's way more fun than the repetition you face in the story. My only wish was that they made it two player, it woulda been a lot more fun that way.
Based on the ending, I'd say it's worth playing as it does contribute more to the story, and seeing as there's still no sequel confirmed, you shouldn't look away. Why it bad to literally repeats itself I don't know, it hurt itself that way.
6.6/10
Thursday, 29 June 2017
Thursday, 22 June 2017
E3 2017
E3 finished a few days ago, it was full of excitement and surprises, but also a few disappointments for myself. I'm going express my most exciting, surprising and disappointing moments. I'll also talk about some other games I'm looking forward to.
Most Excited Games:
1. Days Gone
Ever since I first saw this game, I was hooked. It's been on pre order for months and months. They shown a tonne of gameplay way back and the fast paced and ferocious zombies. It looks to be an open world, survival zombie game. I'm hyped. I've always wanted an open world game, were zombies are actually dangerous. That's still up in the air, from the original gameplay I saw, the player was killing hundreds of zombies, when a massive horde attacks, I'd prefer it to be more about survival, as oppose to gunning them all down. There looks to be vehicle, as you seem to be in a motorcycle gang you're able to ride a motorbike, which looks great. As well as zombies, people seem just as dangerous, maybe more. And my favourite of all? The zombie bear. Zombie wildlife is something I've practically never seen, with the endless amount of zombie games we've had over the years, I'm ecstatic to see something new.
2. Marvel's Spider-Man
FUCK YES. I grew up on Spider-Man, the Toby Maguire movie was the first superhero film I watch, Spider-Man on PS1 was the first game I ever completed and Spider-Man 2 the Video Game was my favourite movie/superhero game. Spidey then had a bit of a downfall, he went quiet, then average games came out, those pointless movies with Andrew Garfield appeared. During the quiet/poor period Batman turned up. The Dark Knight was an amazing movie, the Batman Arkham games were not only the best superhero games, but one of the best video game series around. Batman took over Spider-Man. But now he's back! This game looks inspired by the Arkham game series, it looks... well... Amazing! This is the Amazing Spider-Man I knew and grew up with, he looks to be back at the top along with Batman. Welcome home old friend, I've really missed you.
3. A Way Out
Wow. Honestly, this looks brilliant, I want it now. A coop, prison breakout game. Thay sounds perfect! It's story orientated and the graphics and acting look superb. Created by the same team as Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, that was fantastic, just really short. It's meant to heavily promote split-screen coop, but that's not really an option for me nowadays. I can't wait to play this with a friend, I've heard that if you play online, the game still shows as split-screen, that could be interesting. Maybe have a small box in the corner showing the other player, that would look better than halving your screen.
4. State of Decay 2
Me and a few friends were really looking forward to the original. It wasn't the game we expected, now it is. If this delivers, it's going to be exceptional. Like I said earlier, this is the survival zombie game I want, and to play with friends is perfect here. I really liked the original, true survival, building your base, perma-death. It was scary. Knowing any zombie could kill your guy and they'd stay dead really is the most terrifying thing a video game can do. Give this a bigger and more interesting world, enjoyable missions and a great coop experience and you'll have me hooked.
5. Sea of Thieves
When I first saw this last year I thought it could be fun, and that was it. This year, I think it could be one of the best multiplayer games in recent years. The vibrant look is memorising. It looks beautiful. The fact you can take your ship to the open waters with your friends and fight other player ships, board them, go treasure hunting and have sword fights makes this one to watch. There aren't many pirate games, but this looks like a great adventure.
Biggest Surprises:
1. Beyond Good and Evil 2
It's real. It's actually happening after all this time. 14 years after the original, it's confirmed, although it'll probably be years before it's actually out. That cinematic was excellent, if the game looks anything like that, Jesus. It's a prequel to the original game, and it'll be impressive to see it jump to more realistic graphics from the cartoon-like from 2003. That monkey was fucking cool, I hope we see him a lot.
2. Original Xbox Backwards Compatibility
I don't think anyone expected this. Apparently coming later this year, my advice; stock up on the classic games before they jump up in price even more. I'm making my list and restarting my collection again. Star Wars Battlefront 2 here I come!
3. Metro Exodus
A while back, rumours were circulating about a new Metro after leaks appeared on the Internet. Now it's official, and it looks great. I loved Metro 2033, I've been saving Metro Last Light, but now another's on the way, I think it's time!
4. The Evil Within 2
I didn't expect the sequel so soon, rather hoped I suppose. I'm yet to finish the first, I really like it and I get a Resident Evil 4 vibe, but I'm just so scared to play it. I'm definitely gonna dive back into, I think I saw a hint of the four legged woman in the trailer, for my sake I hope she's not back, she scared the shit out of me.
5. Far Cry 5 is coop
Far Cry 4 introduced coop, but it was nothing special. Only side missions and activities were coop friendly, not the story, and the story was not very engaging and would've benefited easily had it been. The new Far Cry is looking good and it's story is coop. As long as it's not another copy and paste job for the fifth time.
Biggest Disappointments
1. Nothing on The Last of Us 2
How could the be absent? I'm assuming because they showed nothing, it's far from finished. Still, a new trailer would've been something at least.
2. Anthem
This was literally the biggest thing EA had, and it really didn't impress me. From Bioware, who gave us Dragon Age and Mass Effect, but it just didn't hit me. I was in to it until they got in the mech suit. It really lost me there, I'll wait to see more for my final judgements I guess.
3. No new Elder Scrolls
Simple as that really, we all want it.
4. No new Splinter Cell
I was convinced it was going to be announced. Almost four years since the last was released and so far, there's not even an announcement.
5. More Life is Strange
I'm one of the few people that doesn't hype up this game. Honestly? I haven't even finished it. I've got one more episode to go and I just don't care. I even played the first episode when it first released, two and a half years later, it's ongoing. Now, they're relating three episodes and it's a prequel to a story I never cared about. Do we need a prequel? I don't think so. Apparently the main character in the new episodes won't have the same voice actor, because they're not coming back. I think they'll release a second season, but this seems like a cash in.
The Games I'm Interested In:
1. Shadow of War
Shadow of Mordor was amazing, War looks even better. New and better orcs, bigger battles, control your own army. It's going to have Lord of the Rings sized battles. Day one purchase obviously.
2. FIFA 18
As I expected, Alex Hunter's story will continue. If they do a year of his career every year, I think that'll be great. Loved it last year, and was left wanting more ever since.
3. Star Wars Battlefront 2
Let's just say it; they mugged us all on the first one. It wasn't a finished game and they screwed us all. Really, I shouldn't even bother with this, but it looks awesome! It's the game we originally thought we were getting, spread across all three era's and Darth Maul is a confirmed playable character. If it's as good as it looks, I'm willing to forgive that piss poor mistake they released first.
4. Crackdown 3
They showed very little... well, except for Terry Crews, but damn does it look impressive. Stunning visuals and massive destruction. I'm ready for this.
5. God of War
I have never finished any God of War game, I liked the original, but I'm not a big fan of hack 'n' slash games, but this looks different. It looks very story orientated, you and your son are together fighting and hunting, it looks like more of an adventure game, rather than just killing everything in sight. It's looking great.
6. Skull and Bones
This is what most of us have wanted since Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag. That game was great, the best AC in fact, but we want a pirate game. It looks identical to AC 4, add some improvements and this will be stellar. They only really showcased the multiplayer, for the love of God give this a story please!
7. Detroit Become Human
It looks much like Heavy Rain. A story of humans and life like synthetics turing on each other. I'm definitely interested, I haven't seen much of what was shown yet though.
8. South Park The Fractured But Whole
I can't believe how much I liked Stick of Truth, I like how they've changed it from fantasy to superheroes. This is going to be another great, hilarious ride.
9. Destiny 2
Pretty much on the fence here. Another game that was falsely sold. Why are gamers so forgiving that poor triple A games are given sequels? It seems automatic that they get a sequel. The original was so bland and empty. It looks much improved, but I can say that I will not pay full price and I'll wait. It looks like they've actually given it a proper story, we'll see how it goes.
10. Assassin's Creed Origins
I don't even really care about AC now, they're just so hit an miss. The gameplay looks good, but will I give a shit about the character a story? It's likely this new character will get one game like most other protagonists, so should I even bother getting invested? Egypt will definitely be a beautiful world to explore. I'm yet to finish Syndicate, but I love Victorian England as a video game setting, so I'd much rather play that one.
11. Vampyr
One of the few Vampire games around. Again, Victorian England so I'm happy. Playing as a vampire in a semi open world is going to be exciting, it'll be like a new experience and I can't wait to test out my vampire traits. I just hope Buffy isn't around to ruin the fun.
12. Call of Duty WW2
This screams of copying Battlefield. Battlefield went from modern times to WW1 called it Battlefield 1, Call of Duty went from the future, BACK to World War 2, and they called it Call of Duty WW2. I'm happy they've gone back because I don't like the future warfare, but if this is below average, I think they should just change to Call it A Day.
Most Excited Games:
1. Days Gone
Ever since I first saw this game, I was hooked. It's been on pre order for months and months. They shown a tonne of gameplay way back and the fast paced and ferocious zombies. It looks to be an open world, survival zombie game. I'm hyped. I've always wanted an open world game, were zombies are actually dangerous. That's still up in the air, from the original gameplay I saw, the player was killing hundreds of zombies, when a massive horde attacks, I'd prefer it to be more about survival, as oppose to gunning them all down. There looks to be vehicle, as you seem to be in a motorcycle gang you're able to ride a motorbike, which looks great. As well as zombies, people seem just as dangerous, maybe more. And my favourite of all? The zombie bear. Zombie wildlife is something I've practically never seen, with the endless amount of zombie games we've had over the years, I'm ecstatic to see something new.
2. Marvel's Spider-Man
FUCK YES. I grew up on Spider-Man, the Toby Maguire movie was the first superhero film I watch, Spider-Man on PS1 was the first game I ever completed and Spider-Man 2 the Video Game was my favourite movie/superhero game. Spidey then had a bit of a downfall, he went quiet, then average games came out, those pointless movies with Andrew Garfield appeared. During the quiet/poor period Batman turned up. The Dark Knight was an amazing movie, the Batman Arkham games were not only the best superhero games, but one of the best video game series around. Batman took over Spider-Man. But now he's back! This game looks inspired by the Arkham game series, it looks... well... Amazing! This is the Amazing Spider-Man I knew and grew up with, he looks to be back at the top along with Batman. Welcome home old friend, I've really missed you.
3. A Way Out
Wow. Honestly, this looks brilliant, I want it now. A coop, prison breakout game. Thay sounds perfect! It's story orientated and the graphics and acting look superb. Created by the same team as Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, that was fantastic, just really short. It's meant to heavily promote split-screen coop, but that's not really an option for me nowadays. I can't wait to play this with a friend, I've heard that if you play online, the game still shows as split-screen, that could be interesting. Maybe have a small box in the corner showing the other player, that would look better than halving your screen.
4. State of Decay 2
Me and a few friends were really looking forward to the original. It wasn't the game we expected, now it is. If this delivers, it's going to be exceptional. Like I said earlier, this is the survival zombie game I want, and to play with friends is perfect here. I really liked the original, true survival, building your base, perma-death. It was scary. Knowing any zombie could kill your guy and they'd stay dead really is the most terrifying thing a video game can do. Give this a bigger and more interesting world, enjoyable missions and a great coop experience and you'll have me hooked.
5. Sea of Thieves
When I first saw this last year I thought it could be fun, and that was it. This year, I think it could be one of the best multiplayer games in recent years. The vibrant look is memorising. It looks beautiful. The fact you can take your ship to the open waters with your friends and fight other player ships, board them, go treasure hunting and have sword fights makes this one to watch. There aren't many pirate games, but this looks like a great adventure.
Biggest Surprises:
1. Beyond Good and Evil 2
It's real. It's actually happening after all this time. 14 years after the original, it's confirmed, although it'll probably be years before it's actually out. That cinematic was excellent, if the game looks anything like that, Jesus. It's a prequel to the original game, and it'll be impressive to see it jump to more realistic graphics from the cartoon-like from 2003. That monkey was fucking cool, I hope we see him a lot.
2. Original Xbox Backwards Compatibility
I don't think anyone expected this. Apparently coming later this year, my advice; stock up on the classic games before they jump up in price even more. I'm making my list and restarting my collection again. Star Wars Battlefront 2 here I come!
3. Metro Exodus
A while back, rumours were circulating about a new Metro after leaks appeared on the Internet. Now it's official, and it looks great. I loved Metro 2033, I've been saving Metro Last Light, but now another's on the way, I think it's time!
4. The Evil Within 2
I didn't expect the sequel so soon, rather hoped I suppose. I'm yet to finish the first, I really like it and I get a Resident Evil 4 vibe, but I'm just so scared to play it. I'm definitely gonna dive back into, I think I saw a hint of the four legged woman in the trailer, for my sake I hope she's not back, she scared the shit out of me.
5. Far Cry 5 is coop
Far Cry 4 introduced coop, but it was nothing special. Only side missions and activities were coop friendly, not the story, and the story was not very engaging and would've benefited easily had it been. The new Far Cry is looking good and it's story is coop. As long as it's not another copy and paste job for the fifth time.
Biggest Disappointments
1. Nothing on The Last of Us 2
How could the be absent? I'm assuming because they showed nothing, it's far from finished. Still, a new trailer would've been something at least.
2. Anthem
This was literally the biggest thing EA had, and it really didn't impress me. From Bioware, who gave us Dragon Age and Mass Effect, but it just didn't hit me. I was in to it until they got in the mech suit. It really lost me there, I'll wait to see more for my final judgements I guess.
3. No new Elder Scrolls
Simple as that really, we all want it.
4. No new Splinter Cell
I was convinced it was going to be announced. Almost four years since the last was released and so far, there's not even an announcement.
5. More Life is Strange
I'm one of the few people that doesn't hype up this game. Honestly? I haven't even finished it. I've got one more episode to go and I just don't care. I even played the first episode when it first released, two and a half years later, it's ongoing. Now, they're relating three episodes and it's a prequel to a story I never cared about. Do we need a prequel? I don't think so. Apparently the main character in the new episodes won't have the same voice actor, because they're not coming back. I think they'll release a second season, but this seems like a cash in.
The Games I'm Interested In:
1. Shadow of War
Shadow of Mordor was amazing, War looks even better. New and better orcs, bigger battles, control your own army. It's going to have Lord of the Rings sized battles. Day one purchase obviously.
2. FIFA 18
As I expected, Alex Hunter's story will continue. If they do a year of his career every year, I think that'll be great. Loved it last year, and was left wanting more ever since.
3. Star Wars Battlefront 2
Let's just say it; they mugged us all on the first one. It wasn't a finished game and they screwed us all. Really, I shouldn't even bother with this, but it looks awesome! It's the game we originally thought we were getting, spread across all three era's and Darth Maul is a confirmed playable character. If it's as good as it looks, I'm willing to forgive that piss poor mistake they released first.
4. Crackdown 3
They showed very little... well, except for Terry Crews, but damn does it look impressive. Stunning visuals and massive destruction. I'm ready for this.
5. God of War
I have never finished any God of War game, I liked the original, but I'm not a big fan of hack 'n' slash games, but this looks different. It looks very story orientated, you and your son are together fighting and hunting, it looks like more of an adventure game, rather than just killing everything in sight. It's looking great.
6. Skull and Bones
This is what most of us have wanted since Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag. That game was great, the best AC in fact, but we want a pirate game. It looks identical to AC 4, add some improvements and this will be stellar. They only really showcased the multiplayer, for the love of God give this a story please!
7. Detroit Become Human
It looks much like Heavy Rain. A story of humans and life like synthetics turing on each other. I'm definitely interested, I haven't seen much of what was shown yet though.
8. South Park The Fractured But Whole
I can't believe how much I liked Stick of Truth, I like how they've changed it from fantasy to superheroes. This is going to be another great, hilarious ride.
9. Destiny 2
Pretty much on the fence here. Another game that was falsely sold. Why are gamers so forgiving that poor triple A games are given sequels? It seems automatic that they get a sequel. The original was so bland and empty. It looks much improved, but I can say that I will not pay full price and I'll wait. It looks like they've actually given it a proper story, we'll see how it goes.
10. Assassin's Creed Origins
I don't even really care about AC now, they're just so hit an miss. The gameplay looks good, but will I give a shit about the character a story? It's likely this new character will get one game like most other protagonists, so should I even bother getting invested? Egypt will definitely be a beautiful world to explore. I'm yet to finish Syndicate, but I love Victorian England as a video game setting, so I'd much rather play that one.
11. Vampyr
One of the few Vampire games around. Again, Victorian England so I'm happy. Playing as a vampire in a semi open world is going to be exciting, it'll be like a new experience and I can't wait to test out my vampire traits. I just hope Buffy isn't around to ruin the fun.
12. Call of Duty WW2
This screams of copying Battlefield. Battlefield went from modern times to WW1 called it Battlefield 1, Call of Duty went from the future, BACK to World War 2, and they called it Call of Duty WW2. I'm happy they've gone back because I don't like the future warfare, but if this is below average, I think they should just change to Call it A Day.
Thursday, 15 June 2017
Alan Wake: The Writer DLC (Xbox 360)
The second and final extra content for Alan Wake. It continues right after the previous DLC and wraps up the original game, with a possible sequel set up.
Again, it was really short. The DLC's should have been just merged, but enough of that. Alan continues trying to break free from The Dark Place and fight against himself.
There wasn't much of a difference really from the last. The two biggest highlights were the maze puzzle and the final boss fight. The maze puzzle deserves a lot of credit, you were essentially in a building but it span round. You'd have to manouver as it span and be careful you didn't go too early or late and cause a death. The end fight was probably the best boss fight of the whole game. It was a great twist and a real stand off against some memorable faces, with swarms of birds in between.
I did quite like the rest of the story, but I much preferred the previous part. There was also a lot less Barry, which was one of the strongest points of the last.
If you enjoyed Alan Wake, you should definitely get both of the DLC's and wrap up the story, they are pretty good and overall it's a great story.
3.5/5
Again, it was really short. The DLC's should have been just merged, but enough of that. Alan continues trying to break free from The Dark Place and fight against himself.
There wasn't much of a difference really from the last. The two biggest highlights were the maze puzzle and the final boss fight. The maze puzzle deserves a lot of credit, you were essentially in a building but it span round. You'd have to manouver as it span and be careful you didn't go too early or late and cause a death. The end fight was probably the best boss fight of the whole game. It was a great twist and a real stand off against some memorable faces, with swarms of birds in between.
I did quite like the rest of the story, but I much preferred the previous part. There was also a lot less Barry, which was one of the strongest points of the last.
If you enjoyed Alan Wake, you should definitely get both of the DLC's and wrap up the story, they are pretty good and overall it's a great story.
3.5/5
Monday, 12 June 2017
Alan Wake: The Signal DLC (Xbox 360)
The first piece of DLC for Alan Wake continues right after the story, Alan is trapped in The Dark Place himself and needs help from Thomas Zane, a fellow inhabitants of the Dark Place.
Alan is tasked with following the signal that can help lead him out and back to normal life with his wife. Alan finds out he is trapped in his own head and must break free from himself.
It's a relatively short piece of content, but it is around the length of one of the shorter episodes from the original game. It also brings a feature that appeared at the end of the game, were you shine your light on floating words and once burnt, that object appears. It's a unique way of deploying ammo among other things. You also have to be careful you don't spawn a flock of killer birds or the Taken themselves.
Barry is back, but it's not the really Barry. He appears as a ghost-like version of himself and is sort of a guide. He continues his funny dialogue with Alan and gives some of the better moments of the story.
Some of the new areas are a welcome edition too, the furnace room is a fantastic new way of dispatching enemies as they walk past one of the many furnaces that blow once you shine your torch at it. The lantern area is a creepy and stunning location to look at, also a hazard for the Taken, as each step could be hit by a beam of light at any moment and cause them to blow. Even though it's filled with light, you are far from safe, so be vigilant.
It was short and the next DLC carries it over, but in my eyes, they really should have merged both DLCs into one. Oh, silly me! That would mean they'd make less money, how silly of me to expect Micro$oft to save their customer some money! That end boss battle was far too easy and there's an achievement for completing it in less than a minute and a half, it's easily doable too. I did really enjoy the extra story content that gave us a very open ending. With one more chapter to play, we may indeed close this book.
3.9/5
Alan is tasked with following the signal that can help lead him out and back to normal life with his wife. Alan finds out he is trapped in his own head and must break free from himself.
It's a relatively short piece of content, but it is around the length of one of the shorter episodes from the original game. It also brings a feature that appeared at the end of the game, were you shine your light on floating words and once burnt, that object appears. It's a unique way of deploying ammo among other things. You also have to be careful you don't spawn a flock of killer birds or the Taken themselves.
Barry is back, but it's not the really Barry. He appears as a ghost-like version of himself and is sort of a guide. He continues his funny dialogue with Alan and gives some of the better moments of the story.
Some of the new areas are a welcome edition too, the furnace room is a fantastic new way of dispatching enemies as they walk past one of the many furnaces that blow once you shine your torch at it. The lantern area is a creepy and stunning location to look at, also a hazard for the Taken, as each step could be hit by a beam of light at any moment and cause them to blow. Even though it's filled with light, you are far from safe, so be vigilant.
It was short and the next DLC carries it over, but in my eyes, they really should have merged both DLCs into one. Oh, silly me! That would mean they'd make less money, how silly of me to expect Micro$oft to save their customer some money! That end boss battle was far too easy and there's an achievement for completing it in less than a minute and a half, it's easily doable too. I did really enjoy the extra story content that gave us a very open ending. With one more chapter to play, we may indeed close this book.
3.9/5
Thursday, 8 June 2017
Alan Wake (Xbox 360)
Released way back in 2010 and a game I kept my eye on when I first heard about it. I hyped myself up in what felt like a long wait. I did get it on the release date too.
We play as the title character, an author and best selling writer. Currently suffering from writers block, he takes a trip with his wife to Bright Falls. His wife Alice, mysteriously disappears and Alan finds the story of his latest novel is coming to life. The Darkness has shown its presence in Bright Falls and has taken Alice.
Bright Falls looks beautiful and a great place to live. It's full of friendly faces in a town where everyone knows each other. You will very likely get a Twin Peaks vibe when you start paying. A lot of locals play a part in the story, and the darkness even takes over some of them, when the darkness takes over, they become The Taken. The only way to kill the Taken is to shine your torch at them, destroy a shadow shield and then leave them open to your guns.
The Taken only appear in the night, you're pretty much safe in the daylight times. I loved the day tines, not only because I was safe, but I loved exploring the town and meeting all the quirky locals. As well as your flashlight, you're equipped with flashbangs which are an instant kill, flareguns, also an instant kill, and flares, you can drop or hold them to give yourself some breathing space. There is also a nice small arsenal for you to blast the Taken, revolvers, hunting rifles and shotguns. There's even flashlight upgrades, but you must use batteries, never over use them or you could leave yourself having to run for your life.
Along the story you meet a bunch of interesting characters, by far my favourite was Barry Wheeler, Alan's agent. He was funny, over dramatic and was a great sidekick. Dr Hartman, Sheriff Breaker and The Old Gods of Asgard are probably the stand out characters, some people you meet become Taken and a boss fight. As well, birds can attack you and do some damage, shine your light at them as they swarm at you to prevent their attacks
You can find manuscript pages from Wake's latest novel scattered around, these are a great collectable as they tell you what's going to happen, so you get a heads up. The voice actor for Alan is great, the way he speaks and narrates the story makes you want to listen. The graphics were fantastic for back in 2010, all the characters look like real people and they stand out. The downfall, is Alan Wake himself, he looks far less detailed than the secondary characters, which is a huge disappointment.
Ammo is scarce, batteries are much easier to manage. You have to be careful with ammo because I found myself with none at one point, and it wasn't fun to constantly run away. Safe spots are beams of lights, they also act as save points, will heal you and make enemies disappear. You can also dodge attacks in slow motion and reload your weapons faster, which helps when you're under pressure. There are some driving sections, the driving is ok and it's a fast way to travel. It also has a very powerful light with its headlights and you can also run down enemies. Inanimate objects could also come to life and attack you, it made you fear that anything could rise up to attack you.
The question I think is tricky is, is Alan Wake likeable? It's a yes and no, I'm nor really sure what I think either, he does come across quite douchy. Also, there wasn't much of Alice, seeing as the whole game was about saving her, I think she needed more time to develop so we could care about her. The radio and TV shows were a great little feature, so much effort went in to the fictional show "Night Springs", a Twilight Zone type show, and the radio shows gave more to the story and were well acted.
This was a fantastic game back in 2010, and to this day it's still a great game. Mechanics are good, story is intriguing and the graphics are still great. Besides roaming around in a forest more often than not, the daylight scenes make up for it. So, if you still haven't managed to play through this game, you should give it a try.
8.3/10
We play as the title character, an author and best selling writer. Currently suffering from writers block, he takes a trip with his wife to Bright Falls. His wife Alice, mysteriously disappears and Alan finds the story of his latest novel is coming to life. The Darkness has shown its presence in Bright Falls and has taken Alice.
Bright Falls looks beautiful and a great place to live. It's full of friendly faces in a town where everyone knows each other. You will very likely get a Twin Peaks vibe when you start paying. A lot of locals play a part in the story, and the darkness even takes over some of them, when the darkness takes over, they become The Taken. The only way to kill the Taken is to shine your torch at them, destroy a shadow shield and then leave them open to your guns.
The Taken only appear in the night, you're pretty much safe in the daylight times. I loved the day tines, not only because I was safe, but I loved exploring the town and meeting all the quirky locals. As well as your flashlight, you're equipped with flashbangs which are an instant kill, flareguns, also an instant kill, and flares, you can drop or hold them to give yourself some breathing space. There is also a nice small arsenal for you to blast the Taken, revolvers, hunting rifles and shotguns. There's even flashlight upgrades, but you must use batteries, never over use them or you could leave yourself having to run for your life.
Along the story you meet a bunch of interesting characters, by far my favourite was Barry Wheeler, Alan's agent. He was funny, over dramatic and was a great sidekick. Dr Hartman, Sheriff Breaker and The Old Gods of Asgard are probably the stand out characters, some people you meet become Taken and a boss fight. As well, birds can attack you and do some damage, shine your light at them as they swarm at you to prevent their attacks
You can find manuscript pages from Wake's latest novel scattered around, these are a great collectable as they tell you what's going to happen, so you get a heads up. The voice actor for Alan is great, the way he speaks and narrates the story makes you want to listen. The graphics were fantastic for back in 2010, all the characters look like real people and they stand out. The downfall, is Alan Wake himself, he looks far less detailed than the secondary characters, which is a huge disappointment.
Ammo is scarce, batteries are much easier to manage. You have to be careful with ammo because I found myself with none at one point, and it wasn't fun to constantly run away. Safe spots are beams of lights, they also act as save points, will heal you and make enemies disappear. You can also dodge attacks in slow motion and reload your weapons faster, which helps when you're under pressure. There are some driving sections, the driving is ok and it's a fast way to travel. It also has a very powerful light with its headlights and you can also run down enemies. Inanimate objects could also come to life and attack you, it made you fear that anything could rise up to attack you.
The question I think is tricky is, is Alan Wake likeable? It's a yes and no, I'm nor really sure what I think either, he does come across quite douchy. Also, there wasn't much of Alice, seeing as the whole game was about saving her, I think she needed more time to develop so we could care about her. The radio and TV shows were a great little feature, so much effort went in to the fictional show "Night Springs", a Twilight Zone type show, and the radio shows gave more to the story and were well acted.
This was a fantastic game back in 2010, and to this day it's still a great game. Mechanics are good, story is intriguing and the graphics are still great. Besides roaming around in a forest more often than not, the daylight scenes make up for it. So, if you still haven't managed to play through this game, you should give it a try.
8.3/10
Monday, 5 June 2017
Fallout 4: Far Harbor DLC (Xbox)
The first major installment for Fallout 4, full of mystery and misery. A new case for you and Nick Valentine, a whole new area to explore and new beasts to defeat.
A young girl has ran away from her family and her parents hire you to bring her back. She fled to Far Harbor after hearing of a synth refuge, as she believes she is a synth herself and she could live a safer life there.
Far Harbor is a huge and mysterious island. Filled with radiation, the townspeople use fog condensers to fight the fog and make it inhabitable. The Children of Atom, a religious cult also find their place in Far Harbor. A synthetic refuge also occupy the land, called Arcadia. All three factions want different things for the land, is it possible you could bring peace between the groups?
Arcadia is lead by Dima, an early sythn prototype, who has a certain relationship with Nick Valentine. If you want the best of of this add on, you should definitely take Nick with you. You can side with a faction of your choice or you can attempt to bring peace to the whole island.
This content is packed, there is a decent amount of story missions, there are loads of side missions and they're interesting too. You have new enemy types like Anglers, a ferocious sea creature and a new raider-type game called The Trappers. You can also get a new companion, although he doesn't seem as interesting as some others.
The Dima memory puzzles where easily the worst part, unfortunately they were during the story, so they had to be done. To make them even worse, they were done during the workshop screen and they just were boring and slowed it down. One of the most exciting quests was ruined when the whole screen turned black and there wasn't a proper fix, it was while you were hunting the legendary sea creature, The Red Death.
I had some great highlights to mention, the story had me questioning whether I was a synth or not, as you don't really know what happened to you. While roaming the lands, I came across a giant hermit crab, that had a wrecked car as it's shell, it was just so surreal and hilarious at the same time. Easily the best side quests was the robot murder mystery, but I'll leave that there and not spoil it.
This was a great DLC and one of the best I've ever played. This was a great release from Bethesda and shows why they're so popular.
4.1/5
A young girl has ran away from her family and her parents hire you to bring her back. She fled to Far Harbor after hearing of a synth refuge, as she believes she is a synth herself and she could live a safer life there.
Far Harbor is a huge and mysterious island. Filled with radiation, the townspeople use fog condensers to fight the fog and make it inhabitable. The Children of Atom, a religious cult also find their place in Far Harbor. A synthetic refuge also occupy the land, called Arcadia. All three factions want different things for the land, is it possible you could bring peace between the groups?
Arcadia is lead by Dima, an early sythn prototype, who has a certain relationship with Nick Valentine. If you want the best of of this add on, you should definitely take Nick with you. You can side with a faction of your choice or you can attempt to bring peace to the whole island.
This content is packed, there is a decent amount of story missions, there are loads of side missions and they're interesting too. You have new enemy types like Anglers, a ferocious sea creature and a new raider-type game called The Trappers. You can also get a new companion, although he doesn't seem as interesting as some others.
The Dima memory puzzles where easily the worst part, unfortunately they were during the story, so they had to be done. To make them even worse, they were done during the workshop screen and they just were boring and slowed it down. One of the most exciting quests was ruined when the whole screen turned black and there wasn't a proper fix, it was while you were hunting the legendary sea creature, The Red Death.
I had some great highlights to mention, the story had me questioning whether I was a synth or not, as you don't really know what happened to you. While roaming the lands, I came across a giant hermit crab, that had a wrecked car as it's shell, it was just so surreal and hilarious at the same time. Easily the best side quests was the robot murder mystery, but I'll leave that there and not spoil it.
This was a great DLC and one of the best I've ever played. This was a great release from Bethesda and shows why they're so popular.
4.1/5
Thursday, 1 June 2017
Minecraft Story Mode (Xbox One)
Telltale continue their popular point and click games with... Minecraft? Definitely an odd choice to go and create an interesting story, but certainly a popular franchise to go with. The question is, was it a success?
We take control of Jesse, and for the first time you can pick the look of Jesse and even play as either gender. Jesse and his friends are builders. Originally it was given five episodes, which then changed as they announced a further three episodes. This makes me think that rather than do a season two, they chose to release extra episodes instead. Could it be that it didn't sell well? Or maybe it wasn't as praised as they had hoped.
Episode 1:
Jesse and his friends enter a building contest and hope to finally win one. Their main rivals taught them, calling them "losers". Jesses's best friend, Rueben, a pig runs away during the contest leaving Jesse to find him. While on a trip to EnderCon, they hope to meet Gabriel, the legendary warrior from The Order of the Stone. At EnderCon, the man who ripped off your friend, Petra, creates a Wither Storm to target Gabriel, but loses control as the Storm starts wiping out the whole place. Jesse sets out to stop the storm with his friends.
Episode 2:
The Wither storm continues its destruction across the Minecraft world. Jesse is given a choice of two members from the Order of the Stone to help aid him in defeating the storm. Magnus, the leader of Boom Town and a demolition expert, or Ellegaard, a master in engineering.
Episode 3:
An ally of Jesses's continues to get worse and worse from the wither sickness they've contracted. The gang try and find the fourth member of the Order of the Stone, Soren, the great architect. We're even greeted to an appearance from the Endermen, will they prove to be an unlikely ally?
Episode 4:
The Wither storm finale. Will everyone survive the final battle or will sacrifices be made? I have to give props to this episode, it gave one of the most emotional scenes across all the Telltale games, it even rivals The Walking Dead Season One finale.
Episode 5:
The new Order of the Stone assemble! Ivor sends the team to hunt a rare artifact. The gang are taken to Sky City, nothing below but The Void. An old rivalry ignites when it turns out The Ocelot's are in town. They manage to convince the leader of Sky City that you are the bad guys, Jesse intends to clear their name and bring home the mystery artifact.
This is where the original story ended. It didn't really go anywhere or set anything up in my eyes. I think they announced a further three episodes because they didn't think it was really worth doing a second season, but wanted to wrap up the story. I think that's a good thing, a complete story. I wouldn't really be excited for a second season, that's not to say the first season is bad though.
Episode 6:
Through another portal, a new world... infested by zombies. While running for their lives, the gang find an invitation to a spooky mansion. At the mansion, the gang are greeted by another gang of people. The lights go out and there's been a murder! The White Pumpkin reveals themselves and announces that they will continue to kill the guests until they find out who has the items they want in their inventory. This murder mystery is by far my favourite episode in the series.
Episode 7:
Jumping from portal to portal in an attempt to find their way home, the gang enter a world where everyone is controlled by a sinister machine called PAMA, who wants to make everyone "useful". The only option is to run away and somehow bring PAMA down, hopefully the help from a new ally can help.
Episode 8:
Welcome to The Games! A deadly tournament run by a trio, who will reward Jesse and his friends a way home if they win the games, but if they lose they will go to the mines alongside the other losers. Can you trust your fellow competitors? Can you work together to beat the trio? Are you strong and smart enough to win the games? Will you survive? The final chapter is certainly one of the best.
The characters are very likeable and are very well acted. If you choose male for Jesse, you're treated to a great performance from Patton Oswalt. The story has a nice variety of adventures, although the first few episodes seem a bit slow. There are great twists and emotional rides to keep you engaged.
Each episode has a cool and relevant intro. There is a combat function and a nice, simple crafting mechanic, which is expected seeing as it's a Minecraft game. They brought the Minecraft world to life brilliantly and it's so colourful. Even though it seems more child friendly, they aren't afraid to kill off characters. There is even great character development on some people.
It was an enjoyable experience, but I would be happy if it ended here. It was fun and there were some great adventures, but the only way I'd be happy for a season two, was if each episode was a different adventure like the last four episodes. There is so much they could do, but it doesn't seem like it'll go further.
7.3/10
We take control of Jesse, and for the first time you can pick the look of Jesse and even play as either gender. Jesse and his friends are builders. Originally it was given five episodes, which then changed as they announced a further three episodes. This makes me think that rather than do a season two, they chose to release extra episodes instead. Could it be that it didn't sell well? Or maybe it wasn't as praised as they had hoped.
Episode 1:
Jesse and his friends enter a building contest and hope to finally win one. Their main rivals taught them, calling them "losers". Jesses's best friend, Rueben, a pig runs away during the contest leaving Jesse to find him. While on a trip to EnderCon, they hope to meet Gabriel, the legendary warrior from The Order of the Stone. At EnderCon, the man who ripped off your friend, Petra, creates a Wither Storm to target Gabriel, but loses control as the Storm starts wiping out the whole place. Jesse sets out to stop the storm with his friends.
Episode 2:
The Wither storm continues its destruction across the Minecraft world. Jesse is given a choice of two members from the Order of the Stone to help aid him in defeating the storm. Magnus, the leader of Boom Town and a demolition expert, or Ellegaard, a master in engineering.
Episode 3:
An ally of Jesses's continues to get worse and worse from the wither sickness they've contracted. The gang try and find the fourth member of the Order of the Stone, Soren, the great architect. We're even greeted to an appearance from the Endermen, will they prove to be an unlikely ally?
Episode 4:
The Wither storm finale. Will everyone survive the final battle or will sacrifices be made? I have to give props to this episode, it gave one of the most emotional scenes across all the Telltale games, it even rivals The Walking Dead Season One finale.
Episode 5:
The new Order of the Stone assemble! Ivor sends the team to hunt a rare artifact. The gang are taken to Sky City, nothing below but The Void. An old rivalry ignites when it turns out The Ocelot's are in town. They manage to convince the leader of Sky City that you are the bad guys, Jesse intends to clear their name and bring home the mystery artifact.
This is where the original story ended. It didn't really go anywhere or set anything up in my eyes. I think they announced a further three episodes because they didn't think it was really worth doing a second season, but wanted to wrap up the story. I think that's a good thing, a complete story. I wouldn't really be excited for a second season, that's not to say the first season is bad though.
Episode 6:
Through another portal, a new world... infested by zombies. While running for their lives, the gang find an invitation to a spooky mansion. At the mansion, the gang are greeted by another gang of people. The lights go out and there's been a murder! The White Pumpkin reveals themselves and announces that they will continue to kill the guests until they find out who has the items they want in their inventory. This murder mystery is by far my favourite episode in the series.
Episode 7:
Jumping from portal to portal in an attempt to find their way home, the gang enter a world where everyone is controlled by a sinister machine called PAMA, who wants to make everyone "useful". The only option is to run away and somehow bring PAMA down, hopefully the help from a new ally can help.
Episode 8:
Welcome to The Games! A deadly tournament run by a trio, who will reward Jesse and his friends a way home if they win the games, but if they lose they will go to the mines alongside the other losers. Can you trust your fellow competitors? Can you work together to beat the trio? Are you strong and smart enough to win the games? Will you survive? The final chapter is certainly one of the best.
The characters are very likeable and are very well acted. If you choose male for Jesse, you're treated to a great performance from Patton Oswalt. The story has a nice variety of adventures, although the first few episodes seem a bit slow. There are great twists and emotional rides to keep you engaged.
Each episode has a cool and relevant intro. There is a combat function and a nice, simple crafting mechanic, which is expected seeing as it's a Minecraft game. They brought the Minecraft world to life brilliantly and it's so colourful. Even though it seems more child friendly, they aren't afraid to kill off characters. There is even great character development on some people.
It was an enjoyable experience, but I would be happy if it ended here. It was fun and there were some great adventures, but the only way I'd be happy for a season two, was if each episode was a different adventure like the last four episodes. There is so much they could do, but it doesn't seem like it'll go further.
7.3/10
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