Pros:
+ Original idea.
+ Strangely entertaining.

Cons:
– Extremely short.
– Poorly written story.
– Very buggy gameplay.
– Camera system is horrible.
? Minecraft reference.

(Overiview)

 Late Tuesday night. I’m finally off of work, and heading home quite quickly do to me picking up a few new games. I sit down in front of my tv, open myself a nice adult beverage, and begin the installation process of FFXIV on my PS4. “Might as well see who’s online” I say aloud to myself; figured I might want to speak with someone seeing that I had about 80+ minutes until my games patching was complete.

 I decide to join the pre-existing BATGR chat that was going on. “Evening guys!” I greet everyone excitedly. “Hey Josh.” Everyone chimes in. “Josh, we have a job for you?” Dustin begins. “Really? What do you need?” I reply. “Well… In your absence tonight. We’ve nominated you to playthrough, and review Octodad.” A few guys snicker at his statement. I always see the trailer for this game at work, and I usually watch it fairly perplexed. Questioning how exactly the developers came up with such a strange concept. I do admit, I was intrigued on some level. Seemed like a game that I would enjoy, do to it being so wacky. “Ok… I’ll do it.” I say with a little grit in my tone. Being thrown under a moving bus is never a fun thing. Then the thought occurred to me, and before I knew it I already spoke it. “I’m buying it, aren’t I?” I closed my eyes, and let out a long winded sigh while I purchased the title.

(Story/Gameplay) 

 Marriage, lovely thing isn’t it. To have, and to hold. Through sickness, and health. For better, or worse. Throughout the course of matrimony; you, and your partners life becomes one. You share the same house, bed, and even bathroom. So, you would think that keeping massive secrets from you wife would be a pretty bad idea right? 

 I’m not talking about forgetting little Timmy at the grocery store, or forgetting to feed the family pet for over a year. I’m talking about the big ones, like… “Honey, I’m a secret agent.” or in this case. “Honey, I’m a Octopus.” You know; the little things. Enter the life of our hero. A flip flopping dad, who just happens to be an Octopus. He wants nothing but the absolute best for his family, while he protects them from the crazed chef that’s hunting him down. Having very little control over ones limbs does make his battle difficult, but none the less valiant.

 This does raise a few questions however. Like; where exactly did the two kids come from, and why don’t they have any genetic mutations. How does the wife touch/kiss this creature and honestly think that it’s human. How does the rest of the world view him as a normal human being when he can’t even walk in a straight line. I know, I know. This games story isn’t meant to be taken seriously, and was written with a tongue in cheek style. Even stating that however does not excuse how little they even explain their own story, let alone the amount of plot holes throughout.

 The gameplay over all for Ocotodad is simple. Your L2, and R2 triggers controls his respective left or right leg. While the R1 tigger is to grab at items. Watching as Octodad flops around like a fish out of water, (excuse the pun, couldn’t help myself.) is strangely entertaining. Somewhat like a train wreak, or the American Idol tryouts.

 However as much as it is entertaining to smack someone across the face with a tentacle, or spray in in someones face. The overall buggy gameplay begins to draw itself to the surface. During my playthrough of Octodad, my character became stuck on objects to many times to count. Now there is different types of getting stuck in this game. The is the accidentally going through the floor and having you limbs become stuck, type of stuck. There’s the whole having you limbs tie around different objects and become knotted in such a way that you a flailing around like a wacky waving inflatable arm tube man, type of stuck. Then there’s my personal favorite. Become stuck in such a way, that you break the game and have to reload it.

 I understand that the developers had a little bit of an uphill battle with this title seeing that it’s gimmick is ragdoll physics. However, releasing your title with this many bugs with it leaves me scratching my head, wondering exactly how thoroughly they even tested their product. Once you think you mastered the controls, you reach your next massive, never-ending battle. The camera. Now, for the most part, you can get it to cooperate fairly decently, then there are time that the camera begins to act like Octodad, and begins to flop around every which of a way, becoming unmanageable. One instance in the grocery store level left me trapped against a wall for the better part of five minutes.

 Gratefully though, your torture will not last to terribly long. Yes, this title is extremely short, to a point where I feel like I was nearly ripped off. I finished this game from start to finish, in just one sitting, in little over three hours. Seeing that the only replay ability in this title is to hunt down dress ties that are scattered throughout the world. Which by the way, they don’t even introduce to you, let alone tell you what the purpose of collecting said items are.

(Graphics/Sound)

 *Bunch of unrecognizable blubs that are meant to represent encouraging words* Yes, that is how Octodad speaks throughout the title, and that is how the subtext even reads. However, have no fear. Everyone else in the game world can understand him perfectly fine, so it’s not like your going to be left out of every cutscene, and conversation and forced to make your own personal interpretation of what exactly is going on.

 As for the rest of the cast, very few voices seem genuine. Most feel like they grabbed someone off of the street, paid them some money, and gave them a list of words to say. I think the only character that really stood out in this sense, and made me laugh due to good acting is the daughter, quite a few lines of her dialogue legitimately made me break out laughing.

 The one thing I do enjoy about the game is it’s very colorful, and interesting art style. Everything seems like it’s from a twisted 1950’s film, met with a darker sub-text. All of the environments are well designed, and extremely interesting to look at. Just take caution when interacting with it.  Character design is a interesting mix of updated textures, and very rigid graphic models. Granted it does lend it a interesting looks, and ads to it slapstick feel, but doesn’t look the best on the PS4. 

(Final verdict)

While Ocotodad is a very unique, over the top, slapstick comedic experience that stands out because of it’s unique ragdoll gameplay. It does fall short in quite a few categories. The primary thing that kills it for me is the amount of bugs that are every present. Be it extremely buggy controls, or the glitchy camera. The faults of the game does outweigh it pluses, which does take away greatly from the experience. Don’t get me wrong, I did find this title refreshing. Innovative ideas are something that draws my interest quicker than anything else.

Here’s to hoping that the next time Octodad come above water, that the team is a little bit more well established, and can provide us with an experience that will last longer, and not make me want to make sushi out of the main charcter. As a side note, I would like to say that seeing the team at Young Horses is comprised of only 9 people, all of which worked on this title between their full time jobs. I am impressed at their product on this point, seeing how much heart and soul they put into this game does give me hope in the Indie market. I do hope to see more from them in the future. However, and I do hope they can appreciate this, I will not be cutting them any slack when it comes to final scoring.

Octodad: Dadliest Catch for the PS4 get’s… A 5 out of 10. – Josh.

Pros:

• Fast paced, addicting gameplay.
• Great level design.
• Very revolutionary idea.

Cons:

• Lack of story, even though it’s an extremely interesting world.
• Lack of innovative game modes.
• No single player what so ever.
• No clan/team system at launch

(Overview)

Reviewers Note: First off. I would like to apologize for the fact that my review of this game is coming out so late. I just recently picked up an Xbox One, and that is why.

Part of the reason I didn’t pick up a One until now, is no exclusive titles really caught my interest. I mean sure, you have a bunch of really cool triple-A titles like Dead Rising, and Forza 5. However nothing jumped out and screamed; “Buy me now!”; Then Titanfall came along. I’m not going to lie, I had my reservations at first. Brand new IP, from a brand new company. Let alone a company forged from the ashes of one of the most burned out franchises in gaming history.

However; something about this title seemed unique. Dare I say, innovative. Could this be the game I was waiting for? Could this bring the much needed breath of fresh air the multiplayer gaming world has been needing? Titanfall’s whole aim is to rock your world with a innovative, and unique multiplayer experience. Part of how they do this, is by changing the way a normal Deathmatch works. As the title, box art, and countless ads hints. You are the proud owner of what is known as a Titan. A brooding, large, mechanical killing machine able to rip through almost anything that stands in it’s way. Well, almost anything.

Even though having a Titan is the main purpose of the game, one will find themselves most of the time without one. However, do not fret. You are still a cable killing machine even without you 40 foot body armor, and even if said armor rears it head. You have the firepower to bring her down and stand victorious.

One of the more interesting ways the battlefield is reinvented is the integration of parkour within the battles. No longer are you limited to the streets, or any interior of a building. You can basically go wherever you would like, climb on top of any building, run across any wall, and hang inside of any corner. This is truly one of my favorite things the developers did with this title, because it adds a whole extra level of chaos that I haven’t found in a multiplayer game in quite some time.

The one thing however that does raise an eyebrow with this title, is that is a online only experience. No harm, no foul there. I think we all knew something of the sort was in store when the developers main focus was the online experience. What I wasn’t expecting though, was absolutely no single player what so ever.

The campaign portion of Titanfall is played online, just like the regular game modes, and in all reality IS the regular online multiplayer that you play. Just a pre selected mode for a map… and that’s it. No special maps, or game modes. Just what you already been doing, just with a convoluted cut-scene prior to battle, and a tiny picture in the top right corner of your HUD.

I like the idea of what they tried to do here, but the execution wasn’t here when it came to the story. Granted, since one of my primary goals in life is to be a writer. I’m a stickler for things like this. I understand that this will not bother most of the crowd who will be playing Titanfall, but for me it does annoy me not to be able to have a clear understanding of the story without going online to read it.

One thing that also surprised me about this title is, that even though the primary focus of the title is multiplayer, there is no clan system built into the game. Granted, this is something that can always be patched in at a later date. However, it does make me question if I spent 60 bucks on a beta.

The main reason I say this is not only the lack of story, and single player campaign, but also that there are only five game modes to play. Disappointingly enough, three of these are rehashes of your standard shooter. (Team Deathmatch, CTF, and Hardpoint) For the other two original game modes, (Pilot hunt, and Last Titan Standing)

Let’s talk about the good first; Pilot Hunt. It’s a interesting take on Team Deathmatch where only the killing of the Pilot will advance your teams score, where as in Attrition (Standard Team Deathmatch) killing even grunts will draw you closer to victory.

Now on the flip side, we have Last Titan Standing. Fun concept, poor execution. Imagine talking to walk down the street with five sumo wrestlers in front of you. With your every move you are being blocked by a massive wall that can not be passed. Now replace the sumo’s with titan’s and you have that game mode. These maps, even though designed for titan battles, was not designed to house 12 titans at the same time. You will die quite a few times just because you will accidentally be getting stuck on fellow teammates either behind you or in front.

The thing though that makes me keep coming back is just how polished, and redefined the multiplayer actually is. With the amount of options you have at your disposal, there is really no two matches that will be the same. Adding all this together with a system called burn cards. (A one time/One life power-up) It makes the old, worn down experience of a twitch shooter feel alive and anew.

The one thing I have to say that the team at Respawn Entertainment excelled at is the world they created. Not only is the art design spot on. Creating a lush, vibrant, unique world for their game. Maps hold secrets of a lore filled world, and with promise of DLC that is right around the corner apparently. Graphically, this is (In my opinion at least) is the best looking game that the Xbox One has to offer. There has been quite a few maps that I have gawked at due to their impressive graphical beauty. Be it the desert alien lands, or the serine beach coast isle all of the levels have tons of detail within them, as well as little hideaways to find.

The sound designers also deserve a major pat on the as well for going out of their way to complement such an impressive world with not only such a awesome sound track, but also so many different sounds that truly make this game come to life. The guns sound like real weapons, when titan’s walk not only do you hear the gears churn but also hear the ground shake underneath your impressive weight.

(Final Verdict)

 Titanfall is defiantly an interesting character. It’s the killer IP Microsoft promised us, yet it isn’t exclusive to just the One. It has an amazing well thought out world, yet little to no lore to back it up. It has a full campaign mode with two stories within, yet you can’t experience said story unless your playing with others. Even though the multiplayer only approach worked for this title, I really hope this is not a prelude to other game pulling the same stunt. A game needs to have a single player as much as it needs a multiplayer, and in all truth. That, plus a lack of content off of launch prevents this from being a perfect 10 in my opinion.

If you own any of the formats that this title is released upon, you need to own this game. No excuses. Plain, and simple. This is the much needed revive for the run of the mill, tacked on multiplayer experiences that we have become accustomed to throughout the past few years.

It boldly takes that mold, and smashes it. Forcing any, and all developers to take a good long look at their title, and making them innovate where they have become stagnant and create a true multiplayer gaming experience that might just be able to stand in the shadow of this titan.

I give Titanfall for the Xbox One… A 9 out of 10