Articles by "game review"
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at 9:44 PM 0

Here we are, another year, another Call of Duty. I'm sure you have heard all the great reviews like IGN's "exo-llent" and others proclaiming this to be the best entry in the series, which is just plain uncalled for over hype. The honest truth is that Advanced Warfare is not bad, but it's not good either. I'm going to start with the campaign since it was the game's finer point. If I'm truthful here, this game had a impressive and immersive campaign that had a cinematic effect when playing. There is nothing like seeing hundreds of soldiers running around, giant spider mechs, aircraft flying overhead and gunfire everywhere. This is the first Call of Duty where I actually felt like I was in a real war and not just some repetitive boring urban scrap. The game finds a balance between open warfare and special ops missions, these stealth based special ops missions are fun and strategic and are one of the highlights of the campaign. But with all this interesting futuristic tech and immersive battles the story comes up a bit short. The reason being is they used, what I call the three plot rules for Call of Duty, which are, insane leader causing global problems, a traitor within the good guys, and you coming in to save the day.
Not only does the story follow the basic route for past COD's it also has large time jumps in the story, this can leave you a bit scrambled and is a bad story telling mechanic. The game tries to cover up these time jumps with the fact that you work for a corporation/nation for higher that has the best tech in the world, and for the right price will come in and fight your war or mission. The only reason the campaign is worthy of your attention besides the the ops missions and the great battles, is the fact that Kevin Spacey, Troy Baker and Gideon Emery absolutely dominate their roles. Every line they say is delivered perfectly and gets you involved in the characters. One of the main characters and partners of the protagonist, Jack Mitchell, is Gideon who is ironically voiced by Gideon Emery. This is Call of Duty's best character ever, I actually got involved in my partners decisions and cared about whether he was going to die or not. Jack and Gideon become good friends because of all the missions they do together, and the game does a good job of portraying this.


Ah, now we get to talk about graphics. Now I usually don't bring up graphics unless they are absolutely amazing or absolutely dreadful, because graphics don't make a game, gameplay does. In this case the graphics are five times better then previous titles in the series, but the game's graphics waver compared to the current games out and games coming out. I do have to admit the cinematic clips were impressive, but when it transitioned to gameplay it was quite noticeable.

Now we get into the multiplayer. The biggest question everyone wants to know is, how much the new Exo-Suits effect online gameplay? Well, it is a fresh mechanic to a very repetitive franchise. Now lets not make this a comparison game to other titles with jet pack mechanics like Titanfall and Halo. It isn't Call of Duty ripping off this idea/mechanic as much as it is Call of Duty catching up to the industry that it has fallen so far behind in. The Exo-Suit gameplay is more of a dodging bullets and speeding through doors maybe jumping up to escape an attacker. I find the suits to match Call of Duty's gameplay style, and fits into the world they have created well.

The game has some very unique and fresh kill streaks like System hack which disables radar, HUD, and enemy equipment including exo suits. My favorite kill streak is XS1 Goliath which is a mech suit that kicks ass. The game is sort of  lacking in weapons, which is definitely odd coming from a series so well known for its large selection of weaponry. The reason being is that the games weapons are actually well balanced, its better to have a balanced selection of guns then have a arsenal of over powered weapons for players to use, that just ruins every players experience. They aren't just balanced, they have a lot of unique new guns that match the current era that the game takes place in. These weapons are a breath of fresh air from the guns that are repetitively put in the game such as the M16 and a host of other generic modern weapons are not present like they usually are. All in all the multiplayer experience can get a bit dull and repetitive after awhile, it is indeed fun but nothing next gen. It is a step in the right direction and it will be interesting to see how this new three year development cycle improves the game. We have already seen some effort given to improve the game in this entry but their is lots of room for changes and advancements.

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at 6:17 PM 0


When I first heard that Shadow of Mordor would be an open-world game, I was interested to see how it would be. I expected a fairly small world, and indeed the game world is fairly small compared to some other games. But when it comes down to it, it really doesn't matter that much, the world is still decently large. This game is the first step into the brave new next gen world (current gen now), and it is not just a good first step, it is a golden line that has just been set. Any RPG coming out is going to have to battle to compete against this unique masterpiece.


What makes this game so special? Well besides the fact that the story is one of the most moving, extensive, intense and engaging narratives in a video game that has been scarcely seen in the gaming industry for a long time. The game's combat system is one of the most fluid, similar to Batman Arkham City. Each battle is intense and timing oriented; combat is fast and executing enemies is extremely enjoyable, there is nothing like seeing fear in your enemy's eyes when he knows he is about to die, which gives you a sense of enormous satisfaction.
 Combat animations are lifelike and smooth, they are probably some of the best I have seen so far, besides games not yet released such as The Witcher 3. The game also features a unique system of enemy progression, other wise called "Sauron's Army". How it works is you can gain Intel on captains and warchiefs, you gain this Intel by infiltrating camps and forts and stealing info or just before killing a captain or warcheif you can use your wraith powers to force knowledge and or info from them before killing them. When you gain the info, it reveals the warchief and you can mark that specific leader to kill. If you kill any chief, they will show up as dead, if a enemy orc kills you they can be promoted to take the spots of past chiefs you have killed. Warlords/Warchiefs can also fight with each other to gain power and rise in rank. This makes for a constantly changing world for you to play in and is an impressive mechanic to the game.


The game is also a visual splendor to behold! The clothing and armor textures are detailed in the most intricate fashion. Cloth is the game's most realistic texture and is the most appealing to the eye, it stands out enough that I just had to mention it. I did find that some ground textures were boring and repetitive without the slightest hint of effort to make rock and dirt variants. Its just the same texture repeated over large areas, making some of the landscapes dull, now I understand that the atmosphere of the game and the land/area is a darker pallet. That does not give the developers an excuse to repeat a texture so blatantly obvious. I also noticed that human faces were odd and a bit lame, especially the protagonist "Talion's" was a bit weak. It seems like they tried to hard to make his face unique, that it ended up looking odd.  Now these are just a small issues and don't really take away that the story and gameplay are truly something special and when it comes down to it, those are the two
things that matter most.


   

                
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at 9:18 PM 0

With the Mario Kart franchise having a very successful and celebrated past will Mario Kart 8 live up to the standard of past games and come in first or will hit get hit will a blue shell to fall in to last place?

Nintendo has always done a really good job of breathing life in to a franchise so that it seems new and exciting from each new console of that generation. Mario Kart 8 is no exception and in fact in may be one of the best Mario Kart games in the entire franchise. The Wii U is not the most powerful console on the market but Nintendo makes up for the lack of power with the stylized graphics and exciting game-play.

The graphics in Mario Kart 8 cannot be fully appreciated until you see side-by-side comparisons of levels from previous consoles. I understand that you expect that the levels look better from each console year, that is logical but Nintendo paid attention to all the little things. When you drive in snow or sand, it sticks to your tires. When you go through water it is clear and splashes on your screen when you exit the water. Nintendo really impressed me with the graphics boost and it was a pleasant and welcome upgrade.


The gameplay of Mario Kart 8 is a solid upgrade as well. They added the ability to fly and and glide which adds a new level of fun to the game. Nintendo is also making DLCs that will add more tracks as well as more characters. This is great to see and will greatly expand the amount of time you will spend playing the game. Mario Kart 8 will keep you coming back for more because the experience is so unique and entertaining you will want to enjoy all that the game offers.



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at 8:18 AM 0

The Wolf Among Us had a hard act to follow, since it released after the acclaimed The Walking Dead series created by Tell Tale Games. Does The Wolf Among Us bring the same great story with a unique playing experience or does it just end up bitting?

The first episode of The Wolf Among Us set the tone for the entire series. You open with the main character, Bigby, breaking up a fight. The fight goes from an apartment to the street and lets you know that you will be in for a wild ride when playing this game. The plot has plenty of twists and unexpected turns. To avoid spoilers I will not go in to a lot of detail but I will that the story does a good job of taking you from one guess to another without giving anything away.

The graphics for the The Wolf Among Us were improved from The Walking Dead but the visual style is still very eye catching and creative. You find yourself immersed in the visuals and you are aways looking at the attention to detail that Tell Tale put in to the entire game. The graphics help tell the story because you are able to understand the settings and body language of the characters. The graphics will appeal to all audiences and make for an enjoyable time while playing through the game.

The game overall is an experience that is unforgettable and entertaining. The story keeps you interested and craving more and more. Tell Tale did a great job and they finish it all up with a twist that will keep your craving unsatisfied.

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