Author: Dustin Murphy

Opinion: Thank You Third-Party Devs for Keeping the PlayStation Vita Alive

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

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If you know anything about me, which some of you do – you know that I’m a gigantic fan of Sony’s PlayStation Vita to the point I keep it on my person at all times. I’ve even gone to the extent of taking advantage of the new family Nighthawk X4 router and upgraded our internet speeds to 200Mbps so that we can have an extended bit of family fun, and even enjoy our internet gaming a bit more. This even includes my capability to play my PlayStation Vita when on the road. Granted on the road doesn’t happen much, but it is a nice change to be quite honest. But the reality of it is, Sony has effectively given up hope on their Vita. Ask them six years from now what happened? They’ll probably play it off as if the thing never existed, much like my beloved PSP-10000, which I still play and love to this day. I’ve even gone as far as repurchasing many of my beloved titles on my Vita since they are readily available. Thank you Sony Japan for the 64GB memory cards, those are handy.

The First Party Support Games are Great, but Third Party Still Wins

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But lets not play it off. We know first party for the handheld has been lackluster. Really it’s shameful since the few first party games there are, were amazing, and even provided a powerhouse sense of console gaming to that little handheld. The reality is? There were very few of these games such as Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Killzone: Mercenary, Freedom Wars, Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines, Tearaway, Gravity Rush, and even Little Big Planet to name a select few that’ll stand out to most. All of these games have been exceptional enough that they even got ported to the PlayStation 4 (i.e. Tearaway and Gravity Rush). For us PlayStation Vita owners? We can honestly admit that it feels that Sony has abandoned us since we haven’t seen any true huge updates for the PlayStation Vita, we haven’t seen any new first party games, and we’ve seen very little in the means of them even bringing up new PlayStation Vita titles in the long run. Instead we have third party companies such as Atlus USA, NIS America, Aksys Games, Bandai Namco, XSEED Games, and a few other localization teams that have brought over some of the most astonishing games to date. Many of these games even keeping the die hard PlayStation Vita fans rather happy since the games aren’t just a cash-cow, but instead a launch of games they know the fans will honestly want.

It’s a harsh reality when the third party teams have done a far better job than one of the gaming giants of the modern day. If only Sony realized they still have time, but that time is quickly running out as the console wars heat up.

Sony Needs to Realize the PlayStation Vita is Owned by Gamers

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The question is for some: Why is this important to them? For many, the question is a legitimate question, one that some would scratch their heads when my response comes out as follows; The PlayStation Vita is not just an accessory to the PlayStation 4, but instead it is a business competitor to the Nintendo 3DS. While it’s hard to state that the PlayStation Vita will ever possibly trump the Nintendo 3DS is not a possibility, but what is possible is that its games aren’t focused solely on kids. While the Nintendo 3DS does offer an amazing variety of games such as titles from Virtual Console to modern titles as well as its backwards compatibility with physical Nintendo DS games, it’s an understatement to say the game supports the likes of adults and fans who want to play imported titles. We’ve not seen titles such as Corpse Party, Danganronpa, Freedom Wars, or even Soul Sacrifice launch on the handheld, we’ve seen a few adult oriented titles launch on it, but nothing compared to what the Vita has obtained in the last few years.

While we know gamers play both Handhelds, it’s hard not to say that Sony is trying to bury the handheld as quickly as possible due to the fact North America hasn’t seen the new Vita colors, larger memory cards or even half the library Japan has. Hell their Vita library is making ours look like we own a GameCube if that says anything (sorry Nintendo the GameCube had a few select games that were amazing). When gaming on the PlayStation Vita? I’ve run into gamers who treat the handheld as if it were their PlayStation 4. Trust me, I do too, and this effectively shows there is a dedicated crowd out there that is ignored, especially after Andrew House labeled the handheld a “legacy device”, but how can you kill something that… Really isn’t dead, but just isn’t selling all that great in North America? Well we can partially blame Sony for not trying, but we can also blame them for.. Well not trying at all. So it is Sony’s fault that the device is dying if not dead first-party wise. It’s a shame though because the handheld? Is great. It’s magnificent outside of how expensive one is without a memory card, then a good 64GB memory card costing about the same as the handheld itself. Ouch, that’s a punch in the jaw if I didn’t know better. If Sony has any chance at saving this thing, if they cared, their best bet is to treat it as they do the PlayStation 4 and start building a business format around it. There’s still time Sony, but it’s running out. Third Party is what’s even keeping it afloat. Heck that’s where I’ve met a lot of my PSN friends even.

Third Party is Who Deserves the Credit

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If you were to walk into a game distributor such as GameStop (sorry Best Buy, I love you, but your Vita selection is worse than Wal-Mart dropping the Amazon price-matching), you’ll notice some GameStops will have a decent selection of Vita games, they even have them in a neat and fashionable order (if your GameStop cares like mine does). But what you will notice is the fact there’s not any first party games. Shocker really, Hell, even Metal Gear Solid HD isn’t a first-party ordeal. Thanks Konami, you rocked at the time, but I still don’t forgive you. Instead you’ll notice games by companies such as ATLUS, Aksys, NIS America, Compile Hearts/Idea Factory, XSEED Games, and even Bandai Namco. Why? They’re the ones that seem to give a damn that us fans are demanding games still despite Sony shoving us into a corner and putting us Vita owners in a time-out.

If it weren’t for games like Freedom Wars, Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines, Soul Sacrifice/Soul Sacrifice Delta, Murumasa: Rebirth, Persona 4 Golden, Ragnarok Odyssey Ace, Senran Kagura: Shinova Versus/Estival Versus, and a select other few titles? I wouldn’t even own the handheld. Hell Tearaway was great, creative, and fun, but it wasn’t ground breaking. If any game was? Gravity Rush, but with that on PlayStation 4? I could almost sell my Vita copy and not even shed a tear. Except the fact I have a physical copy does matter. Where third party has succeeded, Sony has truly failed as they seem to have given up even developing games, announcing games and even trying to put a few games on the market. Shame on you Sony, if you’d only put the effort into it that the game publishers have done. If you treated it like you do the PlayStation 4? The handheld would be phenomenal and even groundbreaking due to its PlayStation 4 compatibility. Hell even making companion games for titles such as Bloodborne, Uncharted 4, and even Horizon: Zero Dawn would be amazing. Why? It’s what us fans want. Hell ever since I played Knack a PlayStation Vita spin-off would have been amazing to have, but instead? I’m left to my own devices (rather games) to enjoy and will still wonder what would happen if we’d seen more first party developer love.

You Were the Chosen One Sony – The Vita is a Masterpiece

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If you were to visit my room, you wouldn’t be shocked to see I’m a fan of both Sony and Nintendo even though I have my Sega stuff and my Xbox’s (all three gens, imagine that), but what you will notice is my love for Sony. You wouldn’t doubt for one second that I haven’t missed out on a generation of gaming on their handhelds or consoles. Instead you’d see an office with art book’s, display boxes, and even my consoles hooked up in a neat fashion. Granted I’ve put a few of them in storage under lock-and-key, you’d be unable to doubt the fact I absolutely adore Sony’s library of games from the 90’s to current, but that changed when it came to the PSP and the PlayStation vita. It was almost like they didn’t care, they didn’t want to care, they worried more about their handheld crowd. Sound familiar with Nintendo and the Wii U? Yea, it does. Why? It’s the same situation. One has great first party support, the other doesn’t, which is where Sony and Nintendo have swapped places, but at least Nintendo is seemingly still putting effort into the Wii U until we probably get to finally see their new console(s) and or handheld at E3 2016. Well CES would’ve been great to show them off at.

I know if I were to ask a head board member of Sony point blank about why the Vita hasn’t gotten love? My answer would probably be something around the lines of “we don’t have the owner demographic we do in Japan and other parts of Asia”, which is true. But the response I’d fire back would eventually come down to the awful price gouging they have done for the memory cards, chargers, and the fact that the handheld itself with a good memory card will push owners around 300-350 bucks all together. For that much? I’d just spend the few extra bucks and buy a PlayStation 4 and be on my merry way. Which may be what Sony has done intentionally so that they can move consoles, but why not launch a bundle with a 32GB memory card, take the loss and make the bundle 450? It’d bring new fans in and even cause more money to flow through the PlayStation store unless those fans turn around and sale the console. It’d also help push first party support as they would see the fans actually using their handhelds in order to enjoy their gaming experience more effectively. Sony, what happened? Were you tempted by the Dark Side of winning the console war so far?

Third Party Devs and Publishers, Sony Needs You – Closing Thoughts

If you’ve made it this far, you’ve probably decided my entire op-ed has been me bashing one of my favourite companies. Truth is? You’d actually be right that I’ve been dragging my feet through the mud while whining about Sony. Why? All us Vita owners are thinking it, some of us are just not beginning to say it, and I’m one of the ones kicking in the doors. If there is anything that has gone right with the handheld, it’s the fact that third party developers and publishers have effectively revitalized the PlayStation Vita for me in the fact I own almost every game to have released on it and have put well over seventy games on my shelf. So while there are games out there, new owners who aren’t into JRPGs and graphic novels will have to dig through the PlayStation Vita’s library through online stores such as Amazon or through the PlayStation Store to find games that suit their style of games. While that sounds bad? Some of the games have a great story, great mechanics, and even beautiful graphics.

With all this said? Sony it’s your turn to step up to bat, and I really hope to see you make a grand slam.

 

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

Hands-On Impressions: Tom Clancy’s The Division Beta – A Cold Dark World

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

Tom Clancy’s The Division is possibly one of the most anticipated games of 2016. This was easily demonstrated by how quickly beta codes ran out during the betas duration. For those that got to experience Tom Clancy’s The Division, we were given an opportunity to take a glimpse at a game that was rather interesting and well crafted. Tom Clancy’s The Division Beta takes place shortly after a weaponized version of smallpox has managed to go pandemic and wipe out a giant sum of New York’s residents, but it had also managed to go worldwide and do the same amount of damages in confirmed locations such as London where their recovery attempt is under way from what we are able to assume.

For us? Efforts to restore New York have gone underway. The JTF as well as The Division and local rescue teams have begun helping those that need it. Doing so included building quarantine zones, setting up checkpoints, and even going as far as locking down zones such as the “Dark Zone” where only the best of the best or the worst of the worst even go to look due to contamination. This is where players got to spend a lot of their time in game if they weren’t already out and about doing alerts.

What the Game Has Stayed True to Since 2013

The Division has been a game we’ve all watched with wonderment over what it would become. Some of us probably assumed the development teams at Ubisoft Massive, Red Storm Entertainment, Ubisoft Reflections, Ubisoft Annecy have been busy at work making. What we’ve seen of the game until now was a rather visceral future that could potentially happen if someone was crazy enough to weaponize a virus to this scale. The gameplay footages we’d seen were true tactical sessions where players would find themselves bouncing from cover to cover to find vantage points. With weapons being highly customizable we also knew this would be playing another large piece within the game’s world. What we didn’t know was just how in depth our character editing would go since the gameplay footage had never really shown this bit. In the sessions we’d seen from gaming events we also knew the game was going to be rather beautiful, something Ubisoft has become known for in the most recent future, and something they seem to be at peace doing. This is another portion of the game that has also managed to stay alive over the years as fans around the world sat on edge for the Beta itself.

So the question is what has changed if anything? To be honest? Nothing. Ubisoft’s teams have managed to keep exactly to what they said the game would be. A tactical game that would offer players a chance to team up to take on enemies on the streets and help the citizens of New York. Let alone would the game offer varying degrees of difficulty, it would also offer high amounts of customization so that players can utilize their characters to how they see fit. Something that was well done in the beta thanks to weapon tuning, weapon modifications, and even armor pieces. They also had mentioned that the games Dark Zone would be one of the most dangerous locations in the games as teams of four can work together to take over, or simply go rogue and take out other agents, and steal their loot. This also stayed rather true in the beta this weekend. They’ve carried through with their words quite closely, but the one thing that was a bit troublesome is that character customization (as seen in our video below with gameplay and commentary), is that it was limited to a randomizer not showing us the full depth of customization availability or even how it works. While this may be due to the game being in development at the moment, we know that crunch time is here, and the teams are hard at work giving the game a few finishing touches.

The Things We’ve Learned from the Beta – The Good

Like any beta, especially Destiny’s, we’ve been given a taste of what the game will be about. While the beta was a 24.8GB install, we know that much of that install was the release title, and much of that content was locked due to how the game was set up for this test. The good part of it was we got to finally see what Ubisoft has been showing off for the past several years, which was fine tuned to the extent of being immaculate. While a few flaws did stand in place, they were nothing that won’t be fixed within the final version, which is expected.

First of all weapon customization was a key factor within this beta. Being able to add scopes, grips, laser sights, larger magazines, all of it gave us the idea of what the final version would have in store. For my time in the beta? I spent a vast majority of it with an L86SW running around with a acog scope, a larger clip, and even a compensator to help my weapon stabilize a bit. This is much different from my choice of using a SCAR-L with a marksman scope, front grip, large magazine, and even a silencer to hide myself a bit better from enemy forces. Hell it even helped in the Dark Zone when going rogue with a group of friends. (The video below contains us going Rogue Agent as well as objective based gameplay where we decide to take out thugs around Manhattan)

Though weapon customization was a bit fascinating it was also interesting to see that Ubisoft paid a lot of attention to detail with the virus and contaminated zones. The game had zones that would warn players if their masks were not safe for that area by telling them if their contamination levels were safe or not. If not? It’s safe to assume that getting healed up at a decontamination zone or even using a anti-viral would be the safest bet. However we were unable to test this since there weren’t safety zones that the beta would require higher level breathing masks. We also got to take a glimpse at itemization, which includes gloves, knee pads, armoured vests, supplies such as water, food, snacks, grenades, and much more. Each of these all played their own pivotal role in how players would approach combat situations. If you had bottled water? Best time to drink it was before combat and using healing items as it made them much more effective. Want a tactical advantage against your enemies? Easy, throw out an incendiary grenade and force your enemies to abandon their cover and re-situate themselves.

While the beta offered plenty of NPC encounters, the beta had really given us a glimpse of what to expect from assisting the JTF, but an idea of what we can find in the Dark Zone whether it’s off NPCs or players or simply both. The approach to collecting Dark Zone items comes at a heavy cost for some players as rogue agents are always hiding in the shadows with a squad or simply with highly powerful weapons.

The Things We’ve Learned from the Beta – The Bad

Even though we knew the game was going to have a beta, the problem with the beta wasn’t that it wasn’t a solid tactical shooter or even squad shooter, it was the fact the beta came with a handful of weapons, a handful of JTF situational objectives, and even a small amount of story mission. This meant players got to do two missions. Report to their soon to be home base, save the doctor for the medical wing, and hunt down supplies in order to open up the recovery ward. Outside of that? The beta proved that the game has a lot that it can account for, but dared to show off more than just a sip of the kool aid.

But one thing did become apparent to this game. Anyone in the squad could mark map objectives, change mission objective locations they want to at anytime, and even run off and leave their friends behind in order to complete the missions. In the beta? This type deal actually caused me to have to redo the one side mission we got, which was to locate a missing woman, and bring her back alive if she is alive. I had to go back to part three out of four on this side mission and complete the last two steps in order to get the mission completion. Even then? It still felt odd that I was having to complete a portion of the mission we’d already completed even though I was two steps behind him.

The Things We’ve Learned from the Beta – The Ugly

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One of the weakest points of the game was the fact it feels like a slight graphical downgrade from the versions we’d seen at E3, Paris Game Show, and even Gamescom. The gameplay was gorgeous, don’t take it the wrong way, but it wasn’t as cinematic as the trailers or gameplay we’d seen before, which makes us wonder if what we saw before was a devkit running the game at settings consoles can’t handle. Or if we’re going to get another Watch_Dogs situation where the game was gorgeous, still is, but just not cinematically gorgeous. Then again this can all come tumbling down to cost, performance, and limitations based on what can be delivered at launch. If I had anything to say about this? Someone needs to get Kojima Studios on the phone and see how they can go about an engine like his own, but for now? The graphics will do. We just hope to see a bit more polish on them when the game launches since we only saw the beta, not a finished product.

The truth is? If one were to go into the Dark Zone, we’d expect to find looters, enemy factions such as the Riker’s or even The Cleaners. Truth is? It was rather empty unless players wandered around for a good ten or fifteen minutes assuming another squad didn’t wipe out the enemies, take the loot, and wander off. If you were wanting equipment? Best chance players had was getting lucky with drops or simply having a strong enough squad to wipe out enemy forces. Half the time? It meant all out war near extraction zones for equipment. During those moments? Players who wanted to crouch while sneaking to cover? Good luck doing so, this wasn’t happening so far in The Division, which is a feature odd not to have in a title like this one since we were able to sneak in titles such as Assassin’s Creed, Watch_Dogs, and even Rainbow Six. Hopefully this can somehow be added in at a later date.

If anyone is one to open up the minimap and listen to comms chatter or even just basic comms chatter? Many will become accustomed to hearing “He killed Alex!”, which is quite troublesome as it is a name we hear quite frequently throughout the time spent on the beta if players end up walking around the streets. Biggest issue with that? We don’t have a clue who “Alex” is and why we should care about him. All we know? He was killed. Don’t be like Alex until we figure out who Alex is.

Post Release DLC Plans – These Actually are Interesting

We already know Tom Clancy’s The Division is supposed to be a single entry game. Something that we’ve seen The Crew do when it released last year and managed to stay on track by adding expansions to itself. We’ve also seen this happen with Rainbow Six Siege as it is getting DLC over time and will allow for players to enjoy a single title with a rather hefty amount of future content. For Tom Clancy’s The Division owners? It’s suggested to spend a bit extra and just get the season pass. So let’s take a look at the post-launch plans.

“The free updates to be released for all players will add new game modes such as challenging group-oriented operations to test players’ abilities in co-op mode and win unique rewards.

The 3 paid expansions are included in the Season Pass and will be released over the course of the year. Each expansion builds on The Division, continuing your agent’s journey and progress with new content, gear and gameplay as you fight to take back New York:

  • Expansion I: Underground
    This first major expansion opens up a new area to players as they explore the uncharted underworld of New York City with up to 4 friends for intense co-op action
  • Expansion II: Survival
    In this expansion, players will have to survive as long as possible in a very hostile environment that will challenge even the most talented agents.
  • Expansion III: Last Stand
    Stay tuned for more information.

At launch, Season Pass owners will also unlock the exclusive Sawed-off Shotgun, a unique sidearm customized for short-range destruction. Season Pass owners also receive a set of exclusive outfits and weapon skins, as well as access to special monthly benefits including exclusive content drops and special events.”

While it seems that Ubisoft will support players who have the season pass and those that don’t rather fairly? It’ll be interesting to see just how many people pick up the season pass in order to get the unique items, unique events, and the bonuses as they are released throughout the games life-span.

Closing Thoughts

Even though I’ve found a few things to grunt about with Tom Clancy’s The Division, it’s hard to say that these things are something worth raising a racket over. I’m sure if Ubisoft was dealing with a roar of complaints? They would find themselves in a situation much like Destiny is in now where many players have already begun to abandon the game, much like I did back October. Let’s just hope that Ubisoft has taken notes on what to do and what not to do in the long run.

Tom Clancy’s The Division is set to release on March 8th, 2016 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One starting at 59.99 USD.

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

Review: AIPD: Artificial Intelligence Police Department – Policing a Class of its Own

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

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Pros:
+Matches can be short, quick, and fun for players wanting a quick time burner
+Astounding graphical uses and sound quality
+Challenges do make the game a bit more tougher per round played
+Weapon variations allow for increased difficulty

Cons:
+Vibrant and flashy colors and textures could make the game tough to play for those with epilepsy and seizures or those who are colorblind
+Control scheme may be hard to understand at first unless players go into the menus
+Absolutely no story for those wanting story and depth

 

When first contacted about AIPD I had no idea what this game was or what the initials stood for. Let alone had I never heard of the developer Blazing Badger, I decided to check the press email, contact the PR guy in return (thanks again for this opportunity!) and decided to submit a request for a review code on PlayStation 4. While Xbox One and PC also got this game, I decided to take it out on PS4 since we have more PS4 controllers in our office than Xbox One/PC controllers. Also we weren’t sure how the game would run on our Windows 10 PCs since we made the jump recently.

When looking at AIPD as the type of game it is, it’s hard not to think about games like Geometry Wars since both games are in the same league. Both are twin stick shooters, both require a high amount of attention span, but both also use vibrant color schemes in order to keep your attention. What AIPD does lack is something that would have made it intriguing, interesting, and even more drawing for those wanting to play it. A story and multiple maps to play on versus the one singular backdrop. While this worked for games like Flow, AIPD attempts to offer a rather fun twin-stick shooter, which is honestly fun for a little while, but quickly grows to a dull bore. If you want a game to burn time between errands or before work? Then this game is right up your alley as it does offer that since average matches last anywhere from one minute to approximately twenty to thirty depending on challenges (these up the difficulty) that are picked as well as difficulty chosen.

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To start AIPD is an interesting concept, it’s premise is the fact the game has no story, but what it offers in return is a classic arcade like experience. This experience is brought on by the fact this game, much like classic games such as Galaga, Centipede and some of the older more classic games, did not use very many maps in play if any. This is the case in AIPD where players will be accustomed to a singular map that does not change, evolve, or developed into a different scenery outside of the enemies coming in swarms, the enemy drops that may occur and the EMP fields that players will have to watch out for. The game is fairly straight forward in the sense that it offers several game modes that change how players will encounter enemies. This includes one where enemy heavy ships will have extra shielding or even abilities to make it a bit more difficult for the player to survive. This does tend to happen while players are attempting to survive being attacked by incoming enemy ships.

Even though the other modes are basically additions onto the Standard game mode, this review will primarily be focusing on the games core mechanics and the Standard Mode as well a mode that allows for players to make their own custom game creation. The base game is simple, as mentioned you play as an AIPD ship, from there your goal is to eliminate all threats on screen as they come at you in large groups. These swarms can easily be taken out as players learn to dodge, maneuver, and shoot at the same time. Taking out enemy forces allows for players to gain pick-ups, one offensive, and one defensive may be equipped, however you can only pick one up after using one that you already have equipped. These can include shotgun like weapons, swarming missiles, overshields, ice like barriers or even time slows. While all these seem like they might be useful at all times, that is not always the case due to the enemies that may be attacking. If too many approach? Some of the support pick-ups may not seem as effective as the offensive ones.

The one thing that did seem to make the game a bit more challenging was the fact that players can choose modifiers for bonus points after each level. These can variate between a EMP field that will form a ring, making it so that players may only use the center of the map momentarily to enemies having more powerful weapons. To offset this imbalance at times? Players can team up with four people in local-cooperative play. Unfortunately due to having only one spare controller, it was an enjoyable time just teeming around alone in order to see if scores could be beaten on the leaderboards.

AIPD: Artifical Intelligence Police Department –Xbox One, PC, PS4 (Reviewed)
Developer: Blazing Badger
Publisher: mamor games
Cost: 9.99 USD
Release Date: Now Available

Even though other modes offered things such as all environmental hazards enabled to allowing enemies to have all abilities enabled, the creative mode was where the game stood out the most in my opinion. Here players are able to choose what modifiers enemies have enabled clear down to what weapons the enemies may have. Perhaps you don’t want to let enemies have anything, but instead want a rather deadly map? That’s okay too. Got friends over and want to enjoy a rather fun time of creating a map with a few modifiers each? Go at it. There’s three slots players can use to store their created modes from. It’s just a matter of how creative players can be in order to create a rather lethal and fun time.

Due to how little there is, it is hard to state that AIPD is a game that will keep you busy for days on end. Luckily this game is like titles such as Geometry Wars where players will come back to burn a little bit of time. We just hope to see more levels and variations launched for this game now that it’s available. Till then? The game is enjoyable if played in short spurts or with friends. Some? May find this game just as fun as others.

Our review is based upon the final version that the publisher provided us with.  For information about our ethics policy please click here.

 Final Score: 6 out of 10

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

 

 

 

 

Tom Clancy’s The Division Beta – Gameplay Video With Commentary

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

Haven’t had a chance to play the Beta? We’ve got you covered with a gameplay video with commentary! A non-commentary video is coming soon.

For those of you playing the Beta. What’s your thoughts so far? Let us know in the comments here, our Facebook, Google+ or even our Twitter feed!

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

Review: Tom Clancy’s The Division Agent Origins – Originating a New Pandemic (Spoiler Warning)

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

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Pros:
+Amazing back story building for players to understand the start of the game
+Smallpox played a dangerous role in the games universe
+Shows how political and social collapses occur for the new title
+New York City’s Ground Zero sets up a dangerous premise
+A short, but sweet film from YouTubers and Ubisoft

Cons:
–More character back story would have been appreciated
–Dark Zone being shown off would have created more interest

Reviewers Note: While it’s easy to see that I’m used to reviewing games, there was a few things that bugged me about the film as listed in the cons and discussed earlier in. The review currently is a “soft review”, meaning it may be added to at a later date once I get to sit down and analyze the film more than twice in one day.

 

When opening up a game series, Ubisoft has been the masters of creating spin-off short films that give us more detail on what’s happening, and why. They first displayed this capability with Assassin’s Creed 2’s short film “Lineage”, which had shown off how Ezio’s family was tied into the “Creed”. Again they had also displayed their finesse for doing this with Ghost Recon: Future Soldier’s short film called Ghost Recon Alpha. This time around Ubisoft has teamed up with YouTube talent Corridor Digital,  RocketJump and devinsupertramp.

Teaming up with YouTuber’s, Ubisoft has been able to reach out to an established fanbase. One that allows the company and the YouTuber’s to put out content to an already established fanbase, which helps bring forth promotional and supplementary content to that fanbase. In doing so we’ve been given a glimpse at what this can do for those wanting to see what such talents can do in order to bring such a world to life.

The Division: Agent Origins tells us the story of the games four operatives that we currently know of such as John (Matt Day), Mia (Amanda Day, The Center, The Seeker) , Everett(Sasha Andreev, See Jane Run and Best Man Down),  and Daryl (Danny Mason, The Club House, Jive Tales). Within the opening seconds John gives us the layout of how the Smallpox Virus spread through contaminated money on Black Friday. Doing this allowed whoever set off the attack to do so without being easily noticed. By the time anyone that could do anything to stop the virus, the death toll had reached epidemic numbers, within weeks it became a full blown pandemic and there seemed to be nothing that could stop it besides setting up quarantine zones for those that had ye to be infected by the virus. Shortly after the explanation, we learn that the United States Government had put in place a secret directive where sleeper agents would come out of hiding in order to calm the chaos and keep peace. While it sounds easier said than done, the show proves just how difficult that actually is as our leading characters quickly come under attack.

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What’s most interesting is not the fact that the show picks up rather quickly with minimal origins behind each character. We learn that John is a family man. One that takes pride in both his wife and daughter, but hides the fact he’s secretly a government agent waiting to be activated. We learn that Daryl is a scavenger, a medic of sorts as he is hunting down medical supplies. Mia fits the role as the teams tactician and sharp shooter while Everett serves as the teams muscle and heavy hitter. But as quick as it sounds to establish all this, we first have to look at the fact each lived their normal lives. Daryl’s being the one we know little about as we know Mia was in hiding with her boyfriend and their conspiracy theorist friend. Everett we learn was a fireman in his mean time, helping with public duty in order to keep people safe, which didn’t seem to last long once the world around him collapsed.

As the story unfolds we get a look at two of the enemy factions. The Rikers from Rikers Island appear rather quickly within the short, but not quite as quick as the ever-so-brutal “Cleaners” who do just what they believe is right. Build everything from the ground up just as it had with time. Their method includes burning everything down in order to do so be it infected corpses, buildings with infected in it or the people that just happen to be around and might be infected. After all, the way the bad guys see it? Survival of the fittest.

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Where this short shines brightest isn’t just in the fact that it doesn’t look like a low-end budget short, the short does a great job at casting actors to fit the roles of the characters that they are portraying, but also matching voices to those said characters. Let alone is their acting spot-on, the tone, the score, but even the overall appearance to the short gave the short the authenticity it needed to bring forth the game. While narrative was lacking in the sense of building a back-story for fans to understand, it does give some idea behind what The Division was meant for as a Joint Task Force in case such an event happened. While it has been troublesome to pinpoint just how much it’ll affect or bleed into the game is yet to be seen as the game is still roughly a month and a half out before we’ll get to walk the streets of a very different and dark New York City. With the direction the short film did go, it fit the role and did its job giving us an idea of how the squad got together and why they headed back out into the streets of New York. We just have to wait and see how well the gaps between game and short film do starting March 8th, 2016.

Our review is based upon the version released via Amazon Prime Video.  For information about our ethics policy please click here.

 Final Score: 7 out of 10

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

 

 

The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited Thieves Guild Expansion Revealed

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

You’ve probably been putting hundreds if not thousands of hours into TESO since it has launched. Well not thousands, but we can pretend. You’ve uncovered the secrets of Tamriel as it has spilled out before you. You have culled thwarted the plans of your enemies, you have saved villagers, and ultimately you have began to tend to the worlds problems. You’ve probably even picked a few pockets here and there and relied on your stealing techniques to get what you want.

As of today we’ve been given the ability to reveal the upcoming DLC content for The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited. Below you will find the trailer with the upcoming content. Enjoy.

Currently there is not a release date for the Thieves Guild expansion, but it is coming soon. We will provide you more information in regards to pricing and availability when that time comes.

 

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

SEGA Announces SEGA 3D Classics Collection

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

Sega_3D_Classics_Collection

Ever get the urge to rip out those classic games such as Altered Beast, Sonic the Hedgehog, Power Drift, maybe even a puzzle game called “Puyo Puyo 2” for those who like quirky Japanese puzzle games? As of today, SEGA has announced for the price of $29.99/CA$44.99 on April 26, 2016. Fans can grab these games along with five others on the Nintendo 3DS! So lets take a look at the list of games below.

  • Power Drift – This sprite-based circuit racer puts you head to head against other AI racers in a twisting, turning, jumping, looping race to the finish.
  • Puyo Puyo 2 – This head-to-head competitive puzzle game is simple to learn, hard to master, and compellingly addictive. Compete against the AI or friends in local multiplayer. Note: because of the quirks of trying to localize a game hard-coded in Japanese, the game has been left entirely in its original language. English instructions are available in the included digital manual
  • Maze Walker – Originally designed for the SegaScope 3-D glasses on the Sega Master System, Maze Walker comes to life on the 3DS, faithfully reproducing the sense of depth as players try to escape the mysterious, twisting maze filled with unknown dangers. Originally released as Maze Hunter for the Master System in the West.
  • Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa – The sentient space ship Opa-Opa is back to defend its bases from evil (but cute!) invaders in the classic scrolling shooter. For SEGA history buffs, this version ofFantasy Zone II is the original Master System version.
  • Fantasy Zone II W –Fantasy Zone II W, which was originally created for the Master System, is the version of Fantasy Zone II upgraded to the graphical capabilities of the System- 16 arcade board with added 3D effects. You can enjoy it in 2 game modes with different rules.
  • Sonic The Hedgehog – The evil scientist, Dr. Eggman (aka Dr. Robotnik), has snatched the animals of South Island, turning them into robot slaves. Only the famed blue blur can defeat Dr. Eggman and rescue the animals from his vile clutches in the game that started it all for the fastest hedgehog – Sonic!
  • Thunder Blade – In Thunder Blade, players control a helicopter and use guns and missiles to destroy enemy vehicles while flying between buildings, through caves, and into enemy bases. The re-mastered version boasts stereoscopic 3D visuals and adds a host of new features.
  • Galaxy Force II – As the star pilot of the Space Federation, it’s up to you to strap yourself into your TRY-X fighter and turn the tables on the invade forces of Halcyon and the Fourth Empire in this 3D shoot ’em up.  This remastered version has upgraded graphics with double the resolution of the original for a more pleasing aesthetic.
  • Altered Beast – Summoned from the dead by Zeus, players in Altered Beast must shape shift into various beasts and fight off hordes of demons to rescue the captured Athena from the clutches of Neff. Offers local co-op multiplayer.

With all these games releasing on one 3DS cartridge, it’ll be hard not to take up the offer and enjoy these great classic throwback titles! Now we just need to hope for more of the classic games as future releases.

 

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

Far Cry Primal’s Story Trailer Arrives Today

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

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If you’ve been following up on Far Cry Primal you by now know that the game has gone back to the tribal roots that the series has explored in multiple entries. This time it goes back to the times when man was not the top of the food chain and mankind had to be in groups to survive. This meant tribes.

In the new trailer released by Ubisoft, we know that the game is brutal, beautiful, and one that we absolutely have been awaiting for as it finally shows the tribes, dialogue and plenty of the scenery. It has also given us a glimpse at what we can expect from the future of the series. Due to the trailer containing violence and blood, we require you to head here and be signed into an 18+ of age YouTube account.

 

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

Report: The Division Beta Sign-Ups are Temporarily Offline (Updated)

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

The_Division_Beta_Sigup_Offline

Update: It looks like as of earlier today the beta signup reservations went back to functioning properly. Whatever the cause for the outages had been looks to be resolved now. Stay tuned for our hands-on impressions coming soon.

Original:

If you are like many of us out there, The Division is a game you’ve been eyeballing like a piece of candy your parents told you that you can a have at a later date. This time around the parents would be Ubisoft and our “having at a later date” just became a reality as the Beta Sign-Ups have temporarily gone offline.

For those wondering what “offline” means, it means just that. According to the website as seen above, it looks like Ubisoft is doing something behind the scenes to ensure that the beta functions as intended when it launches. So for those of you and us who pre-ordered? It looks like our wait may just get a bit longer to get into the beta. The beta is set to launch on January 28th for Xbox One and January 29th for PlayStation 4 and PC.

We have reached out to Ubisoft to find out what the expected period is before players can once more submit their beta code spots. So if you’ve pre-ordered in the last few days and haven’t registered? Hang onto those codes while we wait to hear back from officials at Ubisoft.

The Division will release on March 8th, 2016 for PlayStation 4, PC and Xbox One.

 

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

Review: The Deadly Tower of Monsters – Playing a Monster of a B-Movie

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

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Pros:
+Characters are creatively introduced through uses of B-Movie story telling
+Gameplay transitions well as a twin-stick beat ’em up style game
+Use of 1970’s like animations brings the game truly to life
+Hysterical narration

Cons:
–Infrequent frame-rate drops
–Difficulty in finding mission objectives from time to time

 

Ever had that moment where you find yourself digging deep through the list of B-Movies on Netflix or Amazon Prime and just happen to come across those films that you’ve never heard of? You’ve probably even clicked play on one of those movies wondering just how horrendous it could be or even how surprisingly good it could be. Queue SyFy Channel for that tidbit. Well this one isn’t going to require you to wonder over towards Netflix, SyFy Channel or even Amazon Prime for that matter. Instead you’ll find yourself digging through Steam or the PlayStation Store on PlayStation 4 in order to play this rather silly game. Silly here actually is quite a good thing.

You may know some of the movies that inspired this game were B-Movies that existed for pure entertainment purposes. Many of those movies became cult classics. The game is a quintessential piece to gaming as it dismisses the idea of a serious narrative to fulfill it’s need as a game that’s actually a movie that you are playing. Were you able to follow that? Good. If you were ever able to watch B-Movies such as Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica, V, or even shows such as the original Star Trek you know the shows were great, the movies that came from them were great, but they weren’t high budget. That’s actually the case with The Deadly Tower of Monsters that came out of the publisher ATLUS by game developer ACE Team who has managed to bring forth a very creative title.

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The opening seconds of the game is quite entertaining as we are introduced to the game as a “DVD” that has been created in order to bring on some rather goofy “DVD” audio commentary. This opening second as the game is introduced is amazingly creative as this bit of detail seems to not just flow through the menus as the “movie director” you are playing as will be narrating the whole game. If you’ve played games like Nihilumbra, Ori and the Blind Forest, and Bastion – you know what you are getting into. As the game gets underway you learn the wacky tactics that the director used, his tips, his tricks, and even how he got the actors as well as the supporting cast to do what they did.

The silly audio “DVD” commentary right from the start helps cement that B-movie feel Deadly is going for. Permeating through the menus, the “director” of the “movie” you’re playing will continue to comment on your actions throughout, much like the narrator from Bastion. This narration however is a bit wackier, and will make fun of everything from gamey elements like finding useful items instantly in unexpected places, why items disappear after you pick them up (the hero “beams” them back to his ship), and how the actors got into a particular costume. He even boasts in one early scene that having his female lead rescue his male lead is progressive, and how he was “ahead of his time” for it. It’s amusing enough to keep one interested throughout. This includes things such as how the main character, Dick Starspeed, had his weapons teleported back to his crashed ship for storage. This includes the fact eventually even Scarlet Nova and Robot are utilizing the same weaponry, but not the same ship? It’s all interesting, but it is a unique twist of things, especially since each character has unique abilities that can be creatively used to create an advantage on the “set”. A nice aesthetic to be quite honest, and even a good one.

What makes this game unique in the top down world that is dominated by games such as Diablo, Sacred, and titles much like them, is the fact that The Deadly Tower of Monsters implores the use of a Deadly Tower. The towers settings, enemies, and tone change drastically as the “director” of the “movie” begin to take the character across this planet. Inhabited by Ape-esque money men, interesting “Energy Imps,” a Ghost Pirate ship, Dinosaurs, and so much more, the game takes the idea of using many, many, classic cult B-Movies  to establish itself. While climbing this tower the game is based around, players will find themselves going across multiple checkpoints while sometimes dropping off the top of the tower to uncover secrets stashed across the games world. From there players will find themselves using the games teleported to get back to where they were or using a “teleport” option to return from the ledge from whence they fell from.

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But what makes this game great isn’t the fact it literally utilizes classic Sci-Fi movie ideas, but the fact it also has some of the best camera work I’ve seen in a game. Giving the idea that this game is a “movie” players can go into the games option menus and mess around with two of my favourite settings. One is changing the game from the upscaled “DVD” quality to the games horrendously (but great) “VHS” setting, which adds true VHS like camera appearance. Remember watching movies on the old tube and on VHS and getting that fuzzy appearance on the screen? There’s your “VHS” setting. Let alone does the game appeal to this by using it as the default viewing, the game also utilizes a few things that some movies back then would have hit. “Budgetary reasoning”, which “forced the director” to stop using colour for a matter of a few moments, but also the fact that the use of wires actually appears on some of the enemies. Let alone did ACE Team choose to have that in the game, they also managed to pull all the stops in this as many of the enemies in the game use stop motion while some of the scenery looks like plastic set pieces. While many would think that frame rates have gone to Hell when enemies use that appearance, it’s actually part of the game, and the creative minds over at ACE team didn’t just stop there as the game does continue on with these type things.

The thing that makes this game not just unique, but fun is quite simple, it’s the fact that let alone does the game have free-falling moments to get to places like the aforementioned Ghost Ship, it also allows players to find secret items that will require them to descend this tower. Ever wondered how much of a rush you’d get when falling down a gigantic tower and boosting at the last second to not die? This game will over just that while you try to collect rings, reach unreachable places before hand, but also the ability to revisit places just for the sake of revisiting them. Didn’t mean to fall? There was an “Air Teleport” option that allows you to return to the point where you fell from. Just note that if in a fight? Enemies will be waiting to knock you off once more whether you want them to or not.

The question at hand though is going to be simple aside from the fact that controls are easy to master, but so are the few little puzzles in the game. How long is play time? In order to beat the game on my first play through, the game got the praise it deserved, but it took me somewhere around three and a half hours to get to the end of the game with almost all secrets unlocked and all weapons upgraded. While the game doesn’t have an option for New Game+, which would be enjoyable, or a way to increase difficulties; The Deadly Tower of Monsters is a game that can easily be enjoyed a second time through. While it is fun to jump off that giant tower from just outside the planets upper hemisphere never gets old, the question of future content can be troubling especially at 14.99 USD or 33% off during the games launch week for those who are looking to buy it.

The Deadly Tower of Monsters –PC, PS4 (Reviewed)
Developer: ACE Team
Publisher: ATLUS
Cost: 14.99 USD
Release Date: Now Available

Despite all my praise though, you should know what you’re getting into. My first playthrough only took me roughly three hours to complete, and I managed to spend an extra hour looking for artifacts and completing additional objectives. There doesn’t seem to be any option for a New Game+ or the ability to alter the difficulty, which definitely stings a bit despite its strong initial run. I can definitely see replaying it every so often however, and jumping off of the top of the tower is something I did many, many times. While the diversity of skills, stats, and abilities from varying titles like Diablo would have been fun to have, the game finds itself as a action title that is enjoyable, fun, and addictive in its short campaign. If being quirky, unique, enjoyable and an unforgettable “B-Movie” experience is what this game was meant to be, it did it perfectly and is one that fans of B-Movies should not pass down despite how it looks. I know I enjoyed it and would have loved to seen a movie based off it.

Our review is based upon the final version that the publisher provided us with.  For information about our ethics policy please click here.

 Final Score: 8 out of 10

About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.