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
Monday, 5 June 2017
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
Monday, 29 May 2017
Fallout 4: Wasteland Workshop DLC (Xbox One)
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
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
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
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