Editor’s Note: Before we begin, we here at B.A.T.G.R., want to congratulate Super Evil Mega Corp on their new title. As someone who plays Vainglory a lot in my free time, the game has taken a soft spot to my heart, and one that indeed shares the same thoughts about Vainglory being crowned “Best Mobile Game” by the GSMA and Gamelab Mobile at the 2016 GLOMO Awards in Barcelona.
If you are anyone that plays mobile games or even tablet games on either iDevice or Android, you aren’t going to want to miss out on the title “Vainglory”. This game is the world’s leading touchscreen eSport title that finds itself in the MOBA genre. During the 2016 GLOMO Awards, GSMA and Gamelab Mobile crowned Vainglory as the “Best Mobile Game”. The awards ceremony, held at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona recognizes the best of the best in mobile games. This includes the most innovated, immersive, thrilling and even sophisticated games from 2015. This includes Vainglory.
For the GLOMO Competition this award recognition isn’t any small feat as there were more than 930 entries received by the GSMA. Over 285 nominees that were shortlisted for over 40 awards in over eight categories. This amount of competition can become nailbiting for those watching and attending the event. If that’s not some tough competition, we don’t know what is, but this is definitely a challenge for many competitors attempting to be crowned victor. Judged by independent experts, analysts, journalists, academics, and even mobile operator representatives; the GLOMO Awards hosts some of the top names in the industry to help determine the winners.
“It is an honor for Vainglory to be recognized as the ‘Best Mobile Game’ by the GSMA,” said Kristian Segerstrale, COO and Executive Director of Super Evil Megacorp. “The rate at which the Vainglory community has grown and the eSports competition has increased throughout 2015 has been incredible, and we can not thank our players enough for their dedication across the globe. We are still early and have a lot to do in 2016, but we are very excited about progress so far!”
His statement? One that stands true as a faithful Vainglory player. We can’t wait to see what is coming in the terms of the game, but also as an official eSport title that continues to grow to this day.
For those unfamiliar with Vainglory, the game puts players amidst a battle of two teams, both being played by three real life players. These players will control a singular hero in attempts to take out enemy players, destroying turrets, and gaining ground control of the Halcyon Fold. The team that is able to destroy the enemy’s Vain wins the match. Something that we here at B.A.T.G.R. have done multiple times, and even found it as one of our favorite mobile games of 2015. The title is even one of the fastest growing mobile games on Twitch in 2015.
After a very successful Live Autumn Season Championship, Vainglory kicked off the Winter eSports Season in January while boasting a Lunar New Year-themed map skin including fireworks and other rather beautiful graphical effects in the Halcyon Fold. The Winter Championships for North America will be held at the Red Bull eSports Studio in Santa Monica, CA starting March 11th through March 13th. In turn, the European Event will be held in London at the Gfinity Arena from March 18th through the 20th. If you want to attend the events, they are now available and can be purchased for $12 USD at http://vainglorywinterna.eventbrite.com and http://vainglorywintereu.eventbrite.com. We know we’ll be watching and cheering on the teams as they attempt to take the victory title for Winter Season. If you want to give Vainglory a try, head on to the Apple App Store here or over at Google Play here.
You can also check out our review for Vainglory to see what we thought of the game.
About the Writer:
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.
It isn’t all that strange to see Pokémon titles come out every year to every couple of years. Why? The game is always evolving. Fans of the series are always pushing to be the best of the best and even causing the developers to plan ahead with how much of the franchise they consume. It’s not all that different anywhere, fans love the franchise, and the devs themselves love the franchise.
As of yesterday, there was a “leak” that hinted that a new set of games would be launching this fall. Their names? Sun and Moon. As of today, Pokémon.comhas confirmed these two titles that will coincide together will launch this holiday season exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS family.
Stay tuned for more information as we await to hear about the upcoming titles.
About the Writer:
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.
Pros:
+Gorgeous cinematics using in-game engine
+Storyline that will leave players hungering for more
+New warframe Ivara offers diverse and unique gameplay mechanics
+New ship designs offer a unique blend for players to enjoy
+Designing your Tenno
+Moon tile set is a blast and brings a new breath of air to the game
Cons:
-The want for more story that takes place post Second Dream
Warframe, when you hear the name many gamers will give a nod to the game or a shake of their head. The fact of the matter is, that Warframe is one of the few games that has given me hope for the free-to-play with in-game microtransactions for people who want to spend the real money or people who simply want to mess around with the in-game market and make some money. As one of my favourite free-to-plays, I’ve had no problems getting around with spending as little money as possible since it’s launch, and intend on keeping it that way thanks to the open trade market that the developers allow us gamers to have.
But what is my articles real focal point on, you might ask, and that’s the idea that triple A free-to-play games can exist. Recently I returned to the game and was welcomed back by some of my friends at both Digital Extremes and through PlayStation Network. My return has been enjoyable thanks to my friends Amber, Alec and a few others. My welcoming back even included the games newest update, which includes a fully cinematic storyline with missions, and even cutscenes as you might imagine. This even includeded a detailed origin of our Warframes operator, the Tenno, and who they are. Titled as “The Second Dream,” the update brings in some amazing changes and even includes a revamped variant of the Stalker known as “Shadow Stalker.”
Known as a previously laughable foe, The Stalker was one that players like myself would group up, run missions, and if Stalker came after us, turn him into stringed confetti with our swords. That has since changed as he has been completely reworked due to this new update, and he now plays a larger role in the game than what he did previously. Sounds impossible? Not so-much. But I do want to advise, if you continue reading, please do so at your own will. Mechanically the game is very much the same beast as I remember it a year ago, but with a few changes to Warframes like Trinity, Excalibur, and my all-time favourite Saryn who has taken position as the new “Prime” for Update 18.
The biggest changes that can be noticed are the fact that things have been reworked, Stalker is a new monster, one that is more lethal before, and even provides a challenge from any range of combat. The prefered range of combat used for multiple occasions has been a mix of up-close with melee, and eventually range with bows or guns depending on the person’s play style. The major change to Stalker is that his loot table has seemingly changed it up a bit. His newest entry is the sword Shadow Stalker uses called “War”. This sword is amazingly powerful and even comes with its own stance mod, one that includes Stalkers weapon stance, and provides players the chance to feel, well, like the Stalker to say the least. As for the mechanics part of the review? There’s not been just a whole lot of changes that we can see as of now, but we will come back if anything noticeable happens.
SPOILER WARNING BEGINS HERE
Many of us over the years since the games launch have been twiddling our fingers, drawing up conclusions, and even discussing what each Warframe is and if they have a story. Now? That has drastically changed from what we originally had thought as we now know who the Tenno really are and why they play such a pivotal role in Warframe, but also for Lotus herself. The story starts out with us decoding a message, one that causes Lotus to go missing, and in turn we are met with a new not-so-charismatic person, but one that sees the flaws in everything; Teshin. For those unfamiliar, Teshin is a conclave master, and the one that we’ve seen a few times before hand, mostly for those who PVP like myself from time to time.
But now he has been given a larger role with Warframes newest update and story arch, one that blows the lid off everything we’d previously thought about the game. This story arch uncovers the truth about the Lotus and her hidden past. We learn that her race is nasty, they are the sentients, and ones that wanted to wipe out the Tenno due to their true power and in turn destroy what was left of humanity. Once discovering this, we find out that the Lotus calls upon one of our most hated nemesis, the Corpus leader known as Alad V. Alad V for many who don’t know has been troublesome since his first appearance. Now? He’s to help us stop an even far greater enemy by the name of Hunhow. A sentient being who has been locked away for seemingly hundreds, if not thousands of years in an ancient chamber where he has slept, and now the Grineer seek to find him, awaken him, and reverse their physical degradation due to over-cloning themselves. As our story gets underway everything eventually begins to become explained as to why the Tenno have become so important to the Lotus and why she has been adamant in protecting “her children”.
Once towards the end of the story it all begins to become explained. We learn the truth behind these child warriors, why they were asleep in their “second dream,” and even as to why their Warframes were in the original chamber and “awoke” from their “dream”. The truth is now out there, our Warframes were the only thing that awoke, our Tenno were put in stasis in order to keep them from going insane and leading the same fate as what Stalker had. With them now awake, we learn our child warriors are one of the greatest things to happen to the universe, but there are only so few of them left in the world. Their mission has been to keep peace, to maintain balance, and even follow the ways of Naramon, Madurai, Unairu, Vazarin or even Zenurik. Each of these ways lead different ways of combat for the Tenno. For the review, the choice was Naramon, the way of the tactician as it can be called since it leads to confusion, and weakness in the enemies.
These focus also give base to the past our Tenno lived. With Naramon, our Tenno were master tacticians, ones that used enemy confusion, displacement, and weakness against them. This even allows us to see our Tenno appear through their Warframe and unleash tremendously powerful abilities that weaken enemies and cause disarray among their legions. This opens up quite a bit of combat advantage for those who want to put their enemies asunder. As we learn about these ways, Natah or rather Lotus, guides us to what each one was, she even describes to us that she found the ship that housed the Tenno. She explains as to why they are even her children due to her being barren, much like the rest of her kind after slipping through the Void, which leaves the idea that our Tenno are truly going to be unique if they suffered the same consequences from going through the Void themselves.
As this review winds down to its end, it’s hard to think that a game a few years ago was primarily a mission to mission game has come full circle to begin its journey as a story-based MMO style game with a very lively group of gamers who enjoy the story just as much as myself. If there is anything to be said about Warframe, it’s that the game is very much alive, and one that will continue to evolve into a beautiful cinematic experience at this rate. One that we’ll be along the ride for.
The Review is based upon the latest update version of the game that can be downloaded for free on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. For information about our ethics policy please clickhere.
Final Score: 9 out of 10
About the Writer:
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.
Pros:
+New characters offer new combat tactics
+Old Characters somewhat redesigned for the modern era
+Online ranked matching is fun, especially when PC vs. PS4 matches happen
Cons:
-Connectivity issues persist off and on for Capcom Fighters Network
-Lag can cause problems while fighting
-Ranked matches do not go based on skill level unless chosen
Author’s Note: Due to the game having just released, our review will be getting updated from time to time with the listed changes above the previous review. As the future content is released, that will be added as well as the games lifespan continues.
Since it’s release in 1987, Capcom’s Street Fighter has been a series that has taken the world by storm. It has brought some of the best players around the world to fight against each other in order to compete for best in the world. The series has also kept true to its formula by keeping the classic arcade button smashing antics alive to this very day, but one thing has changed a lot since 1987 and now. Street Fighter has gone online and even created a ranked matchmaking in order to allow the best of the best to throw some shoryuken’s, hadoukens, and even a few yoga flames at each other, but not all has been smooth with this latest iteration. This time around the game is seeing itself as a PlayStation 4 and PC exclusive, which leaves Xbox fans in the dark. Why’s this? Cross-platform play is all we can assume as PC players and PS4 players are now fighting each other for best in the world.
Much like building a house, games go through the same steps. A solid foundation must be in place, it must be smooth, strong, and supportive of what it does. Something that Street Fighter V has been trying to do since it’s launch last week. The game has seen itself stumble a few times as it begins to stand back up. The problem it’s facing? Online server issues as players begin to storm the servers in order to show down for the best in the world rankings or even take to the casual modes that’ll allow players to throw a few punches into each others faces and shake hands with their console or PC counterparts when done. If there is anything we’ve learned it’s that Capcom has taken on a large task, one that Microsoft did once before with their title Shadowrun. Now? It’s time for Capcom’s debut into the cross-platform arena and for their first attempt, it’s not half bad even though the game is still building its foundation via both fighters and online stability.
For our review the PlayStation 4 version was decided upon since our gaming rig seems to be a bit under the weather, which is quite alright as it serves its purpose when Sussie (the ASUS RoG gaming laptop we use) is up for the task. For now? PlayStation 4 did just fine. Upon our initial connection attempts to the fighting network on launch, Street Fighter V found itself with some trouble both the night before and the day of as servers were down for maintenance, and the problem persisted not just for a few minutes, but for a few hours. Once they were up? It was time to take on the story mode.
“Wait…. Where’s the arcade mode, the story was too short?”
As you might imagine, Street Fighter isn’t a series renown for its stories even though they draw is in, teach us the basics with each character, and even give us a bit of an idea as to why our characters are even in the fighting arena in the first place. Unfortunately this is told through a very short four fights with each character, and you’re done. With only sixteen characters at launch, the story isn’t exactly all that long, and it’s one that was quite easily completed within a matter of an hour. That’s right, you read it, one hour. The nice part about it, however, is that we aren’t stuck with the adventure of a single fighter, but instead all sixteen launch characters. Some of them even having been redesigned to show some aging such as Dhalsim who has gone grey, grown a beard, and still remains annoying as ever with his seemingly unending reach across the screen. Let alone has he seen changes, we also get to see M. Bison having gone grey with age, and even seen families flourish through the years. Ken now has a kid, imagine that, and Ryu is still trying to control the Satsui no Hado as in previous titles.
The troublesome part about this title isn’t that the fighting mechanics for most fighters haven’t changed at all. It’s the fact that the game does not feature an arcade mode for those who don’t want to go online and duke it out a few matches with a random NPC, but instead? They are stuck with a Survival mode, which challenges players to stay alive as long as possible, spend their score on buffs or health, and continue on their way to see how long they can survive. While this mode has difficulties to choose from, it’s just not as satisfying as it would be with a simple arcade mode so that players can choose the fighter they want, when they want them. Though this isn’t where all the troubles do begin, instead we are used to seeing costume swaps in the more recent games, and this game does depart from that in some ways. The new way is we get to unlock color pallets for completing the story mode, and additional ones for meeting certain goals in the games “Survival” mode that was previously mentioned. These colors can be unlocked using the in-game currency known as “Fight Money”. This currency can be earned in several different ways: Playing the story mode, playing ranked matches, survival mode, and even through casual matches. As easy as it sounds to unlock things, that would be completely opposite of the truth, but instead unlocks are a rather painful grind. One that’s even more-so painful than trying to beat Ludwig from Bloodborne’s first DLC on New Game++.
“If players have enough skill, there’s always a chance they’ll show up on Shoryuken..”
But where the game shines is truly the Capcom Fighters Network where players can choose to take on their rivals and duke it out to settle the score or even the ranked match where players who are the best of the best can go head to head. Eventually the best players even have a chance to go to pro tournaments where they will be recognized for their skill and eventually have it tested. We can only assume that they will take on the likes of players like Lupe Fiasco, Momochi, Daigo Umehara, LPN, and even Ricky Ortiz. These players have all been recognized for their skill and natural coordination within these games. This includes beating players into the ground, breaking faces, and taking names in matches that may only last a mere twenty seconds or less. If players have enough skill there’s always a chance they’ll show up on Shoryuken’s ranking website if they enter the tournaments. While online ranked matches may sound as fun as they do, they will test the skill of players across both PlayStation 4 and PC unless the player selects the same platform option. While this option can be utilized, it’s not suggested from personal experience as the movement between both Steam players and PSN players seems about the same in skill, and even the want to slap heads into walls when getting utterly annihilated.
Though there is a small piece of information that may grab players by the ears and will be updated into our review at a later date once it launches. Coming soon to both platforms, players will be able to take the offline Challenge Mode where players will be able to take on daily challenges in order to hone in on their skills and even accomplish tasks for prizes. While that sounds a bit dull, the wait may actually help for those who don’t like playing online, but where the focus of Street Fighter V is, there doesn’t seem to be much hope for those who just want to play offline and practice. For those wanting more story? The cinematic expansion won’t be landing till this June, which might frustrate some players, and even discourage some of the upcoming players as they just might wait out another variant of the game to release, if one does.
Street Fighter V – PC, PlayStation 4 (Reviewed)
Developer: Capcom Publisher: Capcom Cost:59.99 USD Release Date: Now Available
While Street Fighter V has see some rocky bits with its post-launch the days after have gone a bit smoother, lag between matches has seemingly disappeared, and the disconnection issues seem to be almost completely eradicated. While the roster features mostly new comers with some old timers left, the game hasn’t change much in any means, and even the use of EX abilities seems all, but familiar. Mortal Kombat X’s X-Ray moves anyone? No pun intended, but both work much the same and offer the same amount of usefulness when wanting to put a match to a quick end. Street Fighter V in its new formula seems to be quite the game, feeling a bit empty, but one that will come to fulfill its destiny to bring in a huge experience at a later date. While Capcom’s newest release is interesting, the players who get bored quickly will find themselves stepping away sooner than later as the focus seems to be on the die-hard online fighters who want to go pro. For the casual fighters, Street Fighter Vs best offering may just be the fact characters will be added in later through the shop that will us the in-game Fight Money in order to make their roster feel whole. Till that does? This latest Street Fighter at times feels a bit empty and a game that could use a bit of polishing in order to keep casual gamers from being bored.
The Review is based upon a version we purchased ourselves and was completed based on currently available content. For information about our ethics policy please clickhere.
Final Score: 7 out of 10
About the Writer:
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.
This week has been one with a few good size releases and even some better sized news. Fresh off the table are two things that have hit the mainstream, one being that HTC Thrive price has been confirmed, pre-order dates in place, and the hardware shipping with it listed. Meanwhile on the other end we’ve learned that Smite has officially begun its launch onto PlayStation 4 with the closed Alpha having started just very recently. Oh and did we mention the fact that the Brazilian ratings boards have possibly confirmed a Bioshock: The Collection for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4? While the PlayStation 3 idea might just be a bad one, we can’t argue that it may be a decent idea, and one that’s worth possibly buying into for those who don’t own a PC for gaming or, well, have had the chance to jump to PlayStation 4 or Xbox One as of yet.
So lets break down this weeks rant into a few sections.
Smite: Battleground of the Gods on PlayStation 4
There’s no secret when it comes down to the idea that I absolutely love a good MOBA and I’m always willing to give one a go. After all I’ve invested hundreds of hours into Vainglory since it’s launch on Android last year and still continue to play it this day. Now SMITE is a bit of a different story since I’ve played a decent amount on Xbox One due to convenience of a rather large screen compared to the one that my laptop has built in (we really do need a new review computer, add that to the list of things to do, when possible). SMITE is a rather interesting take on the MOBA genre since the game is one, if not the first third person MOBA that offers a third person shooter or even a third person hack and slash view of the battlefield.
The game itself is rather interesting as it brings deities from beliefs from around the world. Players can take on the role of playable characters such as Athena, Kukulkan, Nezha, Bellona, Kali, and many more through out the religions of the world. While the game has been largely available to the PC and Xbox One communities, the game has finally begun its movement to dominate the PlayStation 4’s free-to-play market, much like titles such as Warframe, Blacklight: Retribution, and even War Thunder. With the beta coming in March, it’ll be nice to see the community for SMITE grow in size.
HTC Vive Priced at a Steep 799.99 USD
When we first wrote about the cost of VR gaming due to the Oculus Rift price announcement, our jaws tightened, and our wallets began to flicker with flames coming to life. With the price leak of the HTC Vive, our hearts have sank and our wallets withered away as we watched any hope for affordable VR coming to life become a possibility. Instead one of my personal favourite hardware manufacturers has jumped in at the high-end price of hardware marketing. Unlike the Oculus Rift that was priced at 599.99 USD, it looks like HTC may have just taken an arrow to the knee on this one, and hobbled to the back of the VR race.
With Sony having not priced the PlayStation VR just yet, we can only hope that Sony doesn’t follow in the path of both the Vive and Rift so that players may have an affordable experience, but if anything sticks true – the future of VR gaming may just cause some people to set their wallets on fire and walk away without any form of a smile on their faces. Only thing HTC can do now? Hope that UploadVR is wrong and they’ll be dropping the price due to the feedback of consumers who might just not want to spend that much on a VR headset with two controllers. I know I sure as heck won’t be.
BioShock: The Collection Rated in Brazil
We all know that if someone said that they haven’t been even the slightest of the last gen franchise BioShock, we all know they are either lying or they genuinely aren’t interested. My guess is more-so the first half since the franchise takes a rather interesting turn with the idea of human genetics and alteration. Let alone does it do that, the first two games are almost legitimately skin crawling as players will take on enemies that are physically damaged, mentally degraded due to their need for Adam, and even psychotically motivated with anything they do.
With the series having only three installments and a handful of DLC, it’d be an interesting move if publisher 2K decided to bring the franchise over to the next gen consoles with a bit of polishing, and even higher frame rates and resolutions than when they were previously released. Though the idea that the games could possibly see a Sleeping Dogs type release can make anyone cringe since Sleeping Dogs didn’t see just a whole lot of upgrading between last gen and the current. If BioShock does anything, we just hope 2K gives a true HD re-release for home consoles. Who wouldn’t want to exit a bathysphere once more only to take on lunatics. If the titling is true and this is happening, we’ll see the collection on all consoles for Xbox and PlayStation as well as PC. Wait, why PC? That’s beyond us, but this does give us some hope. Now if only we could get titles like Dragon’s Dogma and the Mass Effect Trilogy on the current gen.
Closing Thoughts
Lets just pretend for a moment that all of this is actually coming true. Mostly the BioShock portion, we already know that the series has become beloved by their fans, and with SMITE now on PlayStation 4, we can only hope that BioShock: The Collection and even a remaster of Dragon’s Dogma will head this way. Till then? We’ll be content playing some of this years upcoming titles and even taming some saber toothed cats on Far Cry Primal while clearing the streets of Manhattan as Division agents with Tom Clancy’s The Division.
About the Writer:
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.
Interested in some Tom Clancy’s The Division? Check out our video for some information!
The Division launches March 8th, 2016 on Xbox One, PC, and PlayStation 4.
About the Writer:
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.
Pros:
+Big weapons that pun the female life
+Amazing story that gives our heroine a 90’s video game start
+Map designs using top down design offer a delightful Diablo-esque experience
Cons:
-Requires a decently powerful PC to play
-Controls on keyboard may be slightly disorienting to non-PC gamers
-Quest NPCs can be difficult to find
When looking at companies 3D Realms and Interceptor have been known some of their fantastic titles like Rise of the Triad, Duke Nukem, Shadow Warrior, Prey, Blake Stone, and many more. With their recent departure from Duke Nukem it was a wonder as to where Interceptor and 3D Realms would go. Their answer? Replacing Duke Nukem with a female character who is full of slap shot one liners, big guns, and an attitude to boot. Sherry is not your average female protagonist, instead she’s a bad ass who has weapons named things such as “The Motherflakker” and the “P.M.S.”. Names you’ll get used to as you go through the game.
The opening moments of the game go as expected. Our enemy force, in this case alien like reptiles are assaulting the White House, and our hero of the day is on her way. Driving like a mad woman we see her arrive at the scene of the “crime” and this is where our game begins. For many, Bombshell seems almost lackluster, if you read the reviews out there – it’s being compared to Duke Nukem quite heavily, and in turn this is where I’ll say stop reading if you are wanting a Duke Nukem style game, this isn’t that. Instead this is Interceptor’s adventure into a new terrain they haven’t been apart of quite yet, which is the birds-eye-view point while implementing shooter and RPG mechanics into a game.
While “boring” may come into mind to some people since the game does follow rather interesting enemy behavior’s, boss mechanics, and similar level designs; Bombshell has remained a game that is rather fun, interesting, and one of those where I’d not have minded if a story was not present in the slightest. Why? I’m a fan of these style games, I love to explore, blow things up, and even take on bosses that may, at times, present a level of difficulty, which they did not disappoint on the higher difficulties away from “Normal”. While missions will seem generic once players are taken to the alien worlds that Shelly aka Bombshell will traverse, the levels are still enjoyable and quite fun in comparison to what one may think. Ever played Diablo? The levels were pretty much the same in the first and second games, just a different paint job. While my biggest complaint with the title wouldn’t be the story or the level design, it’d be the fact that enemies didn’t variate much nor did they seem to want to do so. While enemy placements could have used a clever working to them, they still offered a challenge that lead me to dying more than once, and even throwing my hands up in pure frustration due to having died to thinks I knew I could have avoided. Things as simple as a few bullets that could have been dodged using Shelly’s abilities to my advantage.
While reading many reviews out there, you’ll see that Bombshell has been getting nagged at for what may seem like a simplistic design, one that will take you back to the 90’s era of gaming, but the thing I’ve not seen mentioned is simple. Combat mechanics, the RPG elements or even the abilities that Shelly will use, which in truth – is frustrating, so our review? Won’t be focusing on the level designs, the monotonous story that may seem remnant to a Duke Nukem title (not saying this is bad at all) or even the fact we’ve encountered a few bugs we were able to bypass in the long run.
As stated, Bombshell at its core is a top-down RPG shooter, where our lead lady will grow more powerful as you play. This includes leveling up her health, energy, and even her armor. The one thing that stuck out about Bombshell is that the game is unique, it’s not trying to be another game, but instead is going with what 3D Realms and Interceptor know best. Fun, puzzling, and exploration filled titles that will drive players to pay attention to what they are doing, but also their surroundings as they undergo combat situations and explore. The most noticeable of all this is the fact that Bombshell’s abilities do play a rather large role in her combat situation. Things such as her dash or shoulder charge will quickly render her free of enemy damage for a moment. This will even get her away from combat long enough to recharge her armor and energy to provide another blast of combat prowess. Let alone do players level her up, they also level up her weapons, and in turn make them even deadlier in combat. All of this at the cost of the in-game currency called Ky.
While some of this seems simple, many of these mechanics began to shine during the boss fights. Players will find themselves constantly dodging, moving, and even switching up weapons as their ammo begins to go limited due to ammo being hard to find in boss fights. This means players will find themselves not just utilizing Shelly’s weaponry and gadgets, but also her abilities such as her Trap, her rush, and the previously mentioned charge, which knocks enemies back. Though players will need to cautiously navigate areas in order to not die during these fights as terrain can be just as deadly as the enemies they take on.
Bombshell – PC (Reviewed)
Developer: Interceptor Entertainment Publisher:3D Realms Cost: 39.99 USD Release Date: Now Available
This currency follows a similar situation with games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne where players will need it to by medpacks, ammo, and even weapon upgrades. All the while allowing players to button hammer away in order to stay alive and take out their enemy to the best of their capabilities. If one thing is true about Bombshell, it’s not that it’s a wasted game, it’s the fact too many walked in expecting Duke Nukem out of it. the game is challenging with some puzzles that require weapons to have certain upgrades or even for Shelly to have certain abilities unlocked in order to continue.
If you are one that likes to explore and find hidden collectibles for in-game missions and listen to some witty 90’s-like one-liners? Bombshell is right up your alley and is one that provides a rather enjoyable story as well as gameplay mechanics.
Stay tuned for our second review coming from David Murphy, which will cover his thoughts on the game in our duo review.
Our review is based upon the final version that the publisher provided us with. For information about our ethics policy please clickhere.
Final Score: 8 out of 10
About the Writer:
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 is one of 2016’s most anticipated titles to release after having been announced in 2016. Ubisoft has announced that starting Wednesday, if you have an Xbox One, the Open Beta will be hitting Xbox consoles for players to begin. For PC and PlayStation 4, you’ll be getting in on this starting Thursday. While not much has changed, we have learned that players who have tested in the beta previously will get to experience a new story mission sooner than those that haven’t. Players who also participate in this beta will receive a special in-game reward for their agent(s) when the game launches on March 11th, 2016.
If you haven’t had a chance you can check out our coverage for The Division hereon our YouTube and catch a glimpse of some gameplay while you are at it. Will you be what the world needs to bring peace to a broken New York? Find out soon.
About the Writer:
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.
Anyone that knows me knows that I’m always up for a good challenge. Hell, between me returning to Bloodborne and working on a review for the DLC titled “The Old Hunters” I decided to check the B.A.T.G.R. inbox. From there was a nifty little email from Square Enix that entitled us to playing the new Hitman Beta for PlayStation 4. With a grin on my face, I was eager to download the new entries beta to see just how IO Interactive would handle this new title. As someone who has never touched a Hitman title, I was quite interested in seeing just how well this remake could be, especially after watching plenty of YouTube Let’s Plays of the original titles. With my little bit of research done, I was on my way to downloading the 4GB beta.
Knowing full well how the series now played, I began the first mission with an eager mind. Being introduced to the control scheme was the first piece of the puzzle to tackle. After getting that out of the way, I was on my way to my first target. The most major change that I noticed was the ways for players to go about their missions. This included new approaches, but also the wide array of options that players can use as disguises. This isn’t to understate the fact that the A.I. and level designs aren’t superb. With a newly structured A.I. the difficulty from what videos I had seen was entirely a new beast. Guards would attempt to interrogate 47 if they thought him an impostor. One close enough and your disguise blown? It was time to fake an arrest and knock them out if it was only one guy. If multiple? Good luck, Chuck.
Unlike what I would expect out of some games, I didn’t expect our handler, the famed Diane Burnwood to put her career on the line to bring Agent 47 into the mix of things. Our first mission was quite simple as she would outline it for us. We have a shady art dealer who needs taken out for specific reasons, the mission a simulation of one that could happen, and 47 is tasked with making sure this dealer doesn’t get out a live. Much like any Hitman game, there are multiple entry points, and for me going through the back seemed like the best option. Here I was able to take on a mechanics uniform, hide his body, and sneak into the underbelly of this makeshift boat. As the party went underway, it was time for us to locate our mark. With him found, it was also time for me to find a new disguise. With guards everywhere and guests busy, why not look for the cook? Well finding him and taking his disguise, hiding his body, and moving in on our target was quite easy. Thanks to a blend-in option like Assassin’s Creed, I was capable of having 47 act as if he were a bar tender. From there it was time to tail our target to his point, assassinate him and move to extraction.
After completing the mission it was time to move onto the next one. This one would truly put Agent 47’s skills to the test, most-of-all? Mine. As the mission began to go underway, I learned that I would take 47 on his path to assassinating a defector who would leave to team up with the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. The mission was simple. Infiltrate in any means necessary to kill the target. Along the way I would be informed that there were multiple entry points as well as ways to assassinate him. Some would include poisoning him, dressing up as a KGB Captain in order to get close to him and shoot him, choke him, or even use the poison while he wasn’t looking. Another included using a ejection seat against him. My option? Plan F. All the above. My plan was simple. Prep the ejection seat for him to explode because of, become the KGB agent, infiltrate his room, and plant the poison in his consumables. I did all thee above, but the one that worked best was the looniest of them all. As you’ll see in the gameplay video, which was knock everyone that came around out, and then choke the target into submission only to drag him into the room, snap his neck, and head for extraction without ever being noticed.
While this is my first Hitman game, Hitman’s reboot will surely be getting my attention for hours thanks to its notorious way of sucking players in. I’m sure I’ll go back and give the others a try while I’m at it. Stay tuned for our upcoming review when the first portion releases on March 11th, 2016. Head on over to Hitman.com for more information.
About the Writer:
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.
Pros: +Beautifully crafted story and characters +Graphics used are perfect for the game offering a departure from hyper-realism +The use of colors is a superb choice from lush greens to vibrant oranges +Story will break hearts and cause tears
Cons: –Only characters actually seen in the game? Are a body and well your own character –Very, very short for 19.99 USD
There’s a point where I’ve begun to tell people that games can’t connect to us on a singular emotional level. That we are bound by our human nature into letting our minds play the tricks on us that we need. Want a good scare? Good. Go play games like Slender, Dead Space, DOOM 3 BFG, Outlast or any other disturbing game out there on the market. You’ll get the few cheap thrills you need to make your skin crawl. While being fearful is a natural emotion for us, so is the idea that it derives from our brains impulses to be scared. In ways, that is how we connect to some of the games we do. But the game I’ve decided to take on through my own wallet is not a game that derives from the use of fear or even the subtle hint of violence, but instead it derives from the heart. For me, it is rare that games can connect on an emotional level. Sure the death scene of Sniper Wolf in Metal Gear Solid worked up a few solid tears. If you’ve ever seen movies like Disney Pixar’s UP! or even the same companies film Inside Out, you already know the opening is going to hit you with an emotional punch. That’s what happened with Firewatch.
For many of you, you know the game just came out on Steam and PlayStation 4. You also know that the game is a rather story-driven, first person title, set in the year 1989. The game was developed by Campo Santo, and published by Panic. Panic being a Microsoft Studio, makes it interesting to let us even see the game hit PlayStation 4 versus Xbox One. In this title by Campo Santo, we take on the role of Henry, and overweight, bearded guy who is running away from his life. His problem becomes very real and one for many people to easily touch with. His getaway from these problems? A fire watchtower in the middle of the Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming. Henry isn’t the guy you’d expect him to be, with the voice talent of Rich Sommer in the place, we get a character whom has a deep,but gentle voice, one that is emotionally touched and leads us to believe Henry could be a very real person. For many of you, you may be stating in the back of your head that there is no way this could be your typical video game lead character. In truth? I’d agree with you to some extent, but not all of it.
For many of us, we get to take on the knowledge that Henry is a white, able-bodied, and male lead. One that has a bit of extra meat on him, but likes to take his long afternoon and morning hikes while doing his job as a Firewatch. At his side? We get his Firewatch leader, Delilah. Henry fortunately isn’t a character we can attribute to characters like Isaac Clark of Deadspace or even Jason Brody from Fallout 3. Instead? He’s just your average Joe, which lets us feel like we could know him in person. That’s where this games charm takes place.
Firewatch’s true charm isn’t the fact that our character is just running from his problems outside of what he is doing. It’s the fact that Henry is story driven when working with Delilah while exploring the National park. With the graphics being as stylized as they are, it didn’t take long to see why almost anyone could play this game, even people with a moderately low end PC. If you have either or just a PS4? You’ll be getting the maximum capacity out of the title when it comes to graphical prowess, which helps feed the games experience. The experience is unique as we trek through the woods, one where we find our characters discussing the reasons as to why they are even doing their job. Why the forest is the way it is and even discussing as to why Henry isn’t back home with his wife. While the narrative is rather immersive, the real charm as stated isn’t just our character development we get. Sure we have two very realistic characters, both featuring amazing voice talent and even chemistry, but we also get the idea that these two could be people we’ve known all our lives and just never really got to know.
While there were moments I found myself chuckling at the snarky conversations and the plot twists, I did find myself commonly wandering the simple thing – why didn’t we ever get to really see Delilah, but instead wandered mindlessly through the forests while trying to stop people from starting fires, uncovering age-old mysteries, and even finding missing persons letters? While the different landscapes are charming, and beautiful, the wildlife itself seemed lonesome; fire watchers must be a rather lonely bunch. If it wasn’t for the radios they keep on their person in order to communicate.
As stated, much of our story comes to life through our characters Henry and Delilah, Delilah being voiced by Cissy Jones (Fallout 4’s Doctor Duff, The Wolf Among Us). We get the idea her character is a veteran fire watcher. One that has been there for some time and has even gotten to know the other watchers that have come in and out of the watch tower Henry has been assigned to. One that offers a very different scenery than his home back in Boulder, Colorado. While one would expect to see other people, our only human contact comes down to Delilah outside of the set of girls we get to rudely interrupt while they are swimming in the park causing trouble as usual. While the two girls offer a few chuckles, both Delilah and Henry (sometimes called Hank by Delilah), offer us an emotional spiral as the story tension begins to spike due to the events taking place. Some of it can be from her being genuinely upset by the choices made or even the fact that she has completely stressed out. Regardless, the game gives players a genuine since of anguish as we tug at her emotional strings. This is where the game finds its central lifeline anchored in; it’s only then do you realize just how important Delilah is to the Firewatch title.
When it comes to interaction choices with Delilah between each day on the radio, players are given a chance to pick their responses. These responses do matter and are critical to the character development, but also as to how Henry and her get to their endpoint. So time does matter as do your decisions. Miss something that may be an important part? Your conversations can change drastically as she may take your version of Hanks silence as an insult. Even then there is a chance she could just sign off her radio, and go silent for the day. This time leaving you to your devices. Like any game, however, it’s hard not to see that Firewatch starts off normally. Delilah works as your supervisor. From there she gives you a few tasks at hand to help clean up the park or patrol, only to eventually have you move carefully across the park in order to investigate things going on while learning both characters back stories all the while.
Viewing past this trailer contains spoilers. Reader discretion advised.
Firewatch – PlayStation 4 (Reviewed), PC, and Linux
Developer: Campo Santo Publisher:Panic Cost:19.99 USD Release Date: Now Available
What makes Firewatch unique isn’t just how the game deals with love, loss, and new friendship; instead it deals with being human. Making human choices. These choices are kicked off by us finding out that Henry’s wife is sick with Alzheimer’s. She has gotten to the point that she barely recognizes him. So to escape from her worsening condition he has taken up the job to help out at this park. In turn our character development takes the biggest twist when two young women go missing. Fires start and Delilah becomes Henry’s new interest based upon the choices you make. All the while she helps him come to terms with what is happening and giving him the idea that maybe, just maybe, he should stop running from his troubles in order to take care of his ailing wife. While many could frown upon the idea of infidelity towards his marriage, we are given characters that are unique, human, and are flawed instead of perfect. Their flaws are what makes their story twist around so perfectly as both characters secrets get flushed out closer and closer to the end. While the ending itself, based upon your choices, may offer a bit of an emotional punch to the heart as players find themselves in Delilah’s watch tower awaiting rescue as a raging fire tears through the park.
While the game does offer unique twists upon missing teen girls, the last firewatcher who was in your tower that just suddenly disappeared, and even the notion that the park in Firewatch truly has the mysteries it does. That being said, Firewatch is a gem, one that Campo Santo has carefully crafted to give players a taste of what true gaming can be like when stepping away from all the blood, the gore, and violence in order to tap into a true human existence. It’s hard to say that I’m not one that hasn’t played games a few times over. In truth I found myself sucked into for more than one playthrough just to see how diverse Delilah and Henry could be and I wasn’t shocked to see that the choices change their dynamics tremendously. If there is an appraisal, it’s the fact that Firewatch is unique, it is carefully crafted, and offers a very real human interaction through emotional aspects. This leads Campo Santo’s Firewatch to be one of the best stories I’ve played in years.
Firewatch is out for Windows, Mac, LINUX, and PlayStation 4 at an affordable 19.99 USD.
Our review is based upon the final version that the publisher provided us with. For information about our ethics policy please clickhere.
Final Score: 9 out of 10
About the Writer:
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.
