The Walking Dead Game - QUICKY REVIEW - SPOILERS

I truly cannot believe that I left it so long to play this game. I have just wrapped up playing it and it's safe to say that the game was one of the best I have played. With the morale choices, the cause and effects moment that shapes the story, I find myself emotionally attached, possibly a little drained. A game, with such a detailed, exuberant story and character development has managed to make me feel for the characters in a way that I would not normally do. Moments of sheer panic make me crease, fear making too much noise or shouting at the screen for the stupid thing I just did.

Just looking back through the story, reminiscing on the short, but wondrous journey I've just undertaken, I feel a sense on anger and dismay at how we ended episode 5. Leaving Clementine to wonder the world alone, in search for who ever you told her to look for is dark and really kicks you in the teeth when you could have kept Lee if he didn't just go grabbing things. It was dark, gritty and disturbing, especially when you don't know who the two silhouettes are (Just downloaded 400 Days, so hopefully that will shed some light on it for me). It's a testament to how well the game was scripted and directed, you felt for the characters like you would in the books. It doesn't help that I had a soft spot for Clem. A bond between her and Lee was adorable and blossomed quickly but she played an asset all the way through, which other character didn't. With the love for some of the characters, you also hate a few and I tended to them in the best of fashion...

The ability to change the outcome of he story is crazy, every twist and turn is calculated for. Extra lines written, new dialogue for each part which also affects the story. It's a complicated process and is just stunning to look at it being done. It's a shame that you can't save certain people, most notably would be Lee. Without him and the announcement of a season 2 makes it unknown territory with new characters and could leave you with no answers at the end.

There is only a few problems I had with this game. Fortunately, I bought the hard copy and got all of the episodes, but I feel those that did could have felt a little cheated on the purchases. My second issue is the visuals. They are gorgeous and remind me of Borderlands but darkness levels plummet at points that make it really difficult for you to even see Lee, and some of the smaller textures, like the bushes, looked a little messy. Thirdly, the Sound is variable. I found myself turning the volume up and down continuously, alongside a lot of the glitching and buggyness, it was making it hard to watch the videos, which was a let down. Finally, the last problem I have is with the shooting. Aiming is incredibly difficult, sluggish and unresponsive. Aiming on FPS games is crisp and easy to use, but it takes the biscuit for me. Glitching about as I'm trying to shoot makes it hard enough and the sluggish movement isn't helping anyone.
So overall? Due to a few technical issues, I shall be giving this a 9/10. With a little more focus on the technical aspects of the game, season 2 should be one hell of a ride. Please comment if you would like a review of 400 days once I'm done playing and be sure to check out the new youtube channel that is in the works. Has a few Walking dead testers on there but check it out! - http://www.youtube.com/user/BlackRibbonGaming

Call of Duty - Vengeance DLC 3 - Review

Today, we had the long awaited release of the new Call of Duty DLC pack, including 4 new maps and an addition to the world of the zombies. So below, we have COD's description of each of these maps and I shall add my opinions after.

Cove
"The stage is set for all-out conflict on this small, forgotten island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, where players battle it out amongst the wreckage of a jet that crash-landed during a smuggling operation gone wrong."
Cove appears to be a small map, everything leads to the same spot. No dead ends, no sniper sight lines and plenty of shrubs to catch out the unsuspecting. With a circular shape, it fits a high-speed SMG or a mid-range assault Rifle. You will have little time to react, and the likelihood of surviving continually would be very unlikely.


Detour
"Players fight amongst the scattered vehicles, exposed iron and collapsed pavement of a destroyed suspension bridge, high above this East Coast waterway where the action can play out on multiple levels."
This bridge in NYC is a 2 platform small map. Another small map which you will need an SMG or assault rifle. You have to be wary on the top level about holes in the road. These holes can lead too the lower or off the map, so keep visual.






Rush
"Fast, close-quarter engagements are assured in this paintball course turned full- combat arena, giving players new opportunities and challenges to use the cover to their advantage." 
Probably my favourite map. It's a bit bigger and is reminiscent of the skate park. It would have been nice to see a little more thought going into the map. The inflatable barriers should have punctured when you shoot them, or the whole thing could have been a paintball match. You have some sight lines for snipers, but I imagine seeing more "quick-scoping" than the real use of such a weapon.



Uplink

"In this re-imagined adaptation of the fan-favorite Call of Duty®: Black Ops multiplayer map Summit, players clash deep in the rain-soaked jungles of Myanmar, high atop a hi-tech mountain facility." 
Essentially, a map re painted with the removal of a few ladders to stop a notorious camping spot. Re-imagined maps should be given for free rather than running out of ideas and copying & pasting an old map. Plenty of sight lines for snipers and still corners and rooms for people to hide in. The collection of rooms were always notorious for camping and will be trouble for online play. Keep moving, SMG's will be good in the tight rooms but an assault rifle will be best for survival tactics.


Buried - Zombie Cowboys!
"Players will be challenged to face their deepest fears, trapped inside a long-forgotten subterranean Old West mining town infested with swarms of the undead."
Processing is the main map for the zombies maps. It is chaotic and disorganised, rooms lead to dead ends and can cause huge trouble when you are running about on your own. A few new additions have been added, one being the upgrade of the Ray Gun and a few more guns mixed in with some environmental additions which add some new and interesting aspects to the game.

Call of Duty Black Ops 2 - Uprising DLC! REVIEW

As you can tell, this is about the new DLC for Call of Duty!
Within this DLC pack we have 4 new maps, a new zombie mode with some new guns to blow stuff up!

To avoid me tearing my hair out when playing online, I created a private match and just went through to critic the maps on my likes and dislikes.

First map on this list is.....ENCORE
The map is alright, it's supposed to represent an actual concert but seems way to small for such an event... The map doesn't really stick out and grip you to your seat but I can bet it will get your blood pumping when you have a round of free for all with your friends alongside some sub machine guns. But first, make sure your friends aren't campers, otherwise you're gonna have a bad time! The description for the map talks about sight lines, yet they are incredibly small and really ruin the whole sniper aspect of the weapons system. However, COD players tend to enjoy quick-scoping rather than the simple and realistic methods...

The next map is MAGMA
Right, so we are now in Asia, a big volcano has gone off and there is lava everywhere. There are no invisible walls to stop you from exiting the map, just hot magma that kills you instantly when you step on the cooling sections...Further around the map I start to watch the lava roll down the hill and I know it's hard to make it look like the lava is flowing but it just doesn't look right in the parts that require detailing to get right. Some of the fire effects are poor and a lot of stuff is simply copied and pasted from other maps. This map is nothing spectacular but the lava is a nice touch to keep you on your toes but more campy spots found!

Now VERTIGO
Vertigo is eerily reminiscent of Highrise for MW2. With medium length stretches and small rooms, combat is well varied, however a lack of sniper high points make the map look fairly level or flat. The map was dragged straight from the game making you wonder why it wasn't part of the online on release day, but we know that game companies, most notably the cod franchise; like to get their hands on more money. It also seems that they run out of map ideas and just threw this one in there as they already had it all set up.

Finally STUDIO
This map is my personal favourite from the maps. The original map (Range) was also good fun in the original Black Ops but why they couldn't have made these free when they are from previous games, it really makes me wonder. On spawning into the map, I noticed barrels, explosive barrels which can quite easily spawn kill you if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time!
The T-rex and other mechanical robot things move and make robotic motion noises, but lack a roar or a screech (in the case of the Alien thing) when you walk past it, which could be created with a simple trip switch. The varied sections liven each area up and make it obviously identifiable when calling for help in certain areas. "HELP ME!, I'M STUCK IN THE ALIEN WORLD" will certainly make life easier when you are a tad stuck. Once again though, COD didn't have the decency to make a new map, just take the remains of a map which became campers map shortly after it's original release.

MOB OF THE DEAD!!!

Upon opening the zombie world you are given 2 areas to select from, Cell Block [Grief] or Sunset Strip [mob of the dead]. Mob of the dead is the first zombies map to actually let you escape from the island, but you need a lot of skill, patience and team work. But as always, my partner and I were dropped in with some retards that would ditch you at the smallest sign of trouble, making this game very difficult with anything less than 4 players. Once you select the Mob of the dead you become a ghost and you go to revive yourself to start the game off. It's a cool little feature but you cannot choose which character you want to be. The ghost aspect of the game opens tunnels that give you extras, power and parts for the escape plan, but in the heat of battle you can revive yourself in certain circumstances while teleporting zombies away.  I only played one game, so I'm yet to experience new weapons and the true extent of the game but a lot of detail was put into this with little

pep talks to yourself if you are truly close to death, which is actually quite deep and meaningful. Plus it's one of my favourite eras, so the accents and the gangster mannerisms of the characters are pretty damn funky.

Overall, the DLC is good, maps are lacking and are simply to grab a bit more money out of everyone's already tight pockets. If you want them, I recommend getting the season pass. It is cheaper in the long run and you get a couple of extras along the way.
Maps - 6/10
Mob of the dead - 8/10  (May change once I get a really solid go at it!)

Time to try and sleep. Here come the zombie nightmares! xD

Far Cry 3 Quicky Review! -SPOILERS-

I finally managed to play it! I've had this for at least a month with the intention of giving it a go, it was a good thing I got it free!

After the previous Far Cry, I didn't really care for the series and we can still see many of those

annoyances coming through in this follow-up. I played 10 minutes of Far Cry 2 and then dumped it as it was so annoying, so I came into this one with little expectations apart from the raves reviews that came out around the time of its release.

Altogether, I did enjoy playing the game. There were flaws that would appear, simply to piss me off but some I managed to ignore. The sandbox world of Rook Island is amazing, the quality of the landscaping is brilliant and is one hell of a sight when you are using the gliders to travel. The thick jungles hide vicious creatures that want to use you as a new toy, which is bloody scary when you don't know where they are coming from! However the land can be annoying, when you cannot climb a slope over a certain degree or drive your 4x4 up it you wonder why you bother trying. Alongside this one of the missions detailed for you to jump from a bridge and use your wing suit to fly away, I happened to miss the chance to pull the chute, hitting the water and escaped off the map completely so my character drowned as he couldn't get back into the map world.

Story wise, the game is really simple. You go out with all of your rich friends and brothers to then get stuck on Rook Island after you went off course while skydiving. Rook Island is inhabited by mercenaries, pirates and general innocents. You end up causing a lot of shit towards the mercs and pirates while you rescue your friends. The campaign is approximately 12 hours long and can get really far fetched. With the introduction of magic items about half way in, it seemed stupid when the game was positioned in a fashion that's more like a survival game and doesn't reflect the true gritty

Part of the badass tattoo!

style. Alongside the whole magic tattoo stuff which was really odd but is part of some cultures and does look pretty badass. The characters are really frustrating, your older brother who dies at the start was probably the most bearable seeing he was only about for 5 minutes. The rest of them are just douche bags, especially the stoner. Character development is little, if any. Jason (you) is also very boring. You see none of the stress he would go through, but you see him go from innocent teen to a mass murderer with a machete and an SMG with an ability to sponge bullets and damage from everything apart from a 10ft drop! His change was to drastic and never really made you engage with him.

Weapons in the game are fairly varied and the use of the bow is great fun. The bow and a scene at some rice fields really showcase the ability of it but also blow you back to the most recent instalment of Rambo! With the huge size of the map, you will have enemies all around you and you constantly need to maintain a supply of weapons and ammo which is fairly cheap and easy to come across. Once the campaign is done, you have the whole world to play in. Liberating the island is a big task but good fun when you go in like a ninja cutting the alarm and single handedly popping all the enemies off from a mile off with a nice sniper round to the cranium. Then you have the ones just just play up and enemies find you from an impossible angle which would get on my tits.

Finally the bosses. Vass and Hoyt. Using Vass on the front cover was a mistake, he appears a few times until you get to kill him, all being for a few minutes and then disappears. Bigged up as a huge psycho nut job, you would expect to see him more often and truly see this, but you don't. You get little samples and then it's over. Hoyt was much the same as Vass but you could see what he was planning for you from the moment you first met (as long as you actually looked around his place properly). His plans were so evident that they could have cut to the chase instead of making Jason look like an idiot. Finally we have the boss fights which just suck. You suddenly hallucinate, kill everyone in the room and are put through quick time events to kill Vass and Hoyt. It lacked any substance to really grip you and stress you out.

Overall the game was alright, I haven't covered everything as I'm still hungover but I believe this game deserves a 7/10. If only they could sort a few little bits out and I would be happy, such as the AI's and driving.

Bioshock Infinite REVIEW! -POSSIBLE SPOILERS-

Here it is guys!, the long awaited sequel in the Bioshock series. As I have already stated, I have had this game on pre-order for exactly a year on it's release day and it was so worth the wait!

We enter the game on a small rowing boat with two cloaked people chatting away while a storm rages on around you. One of them hands you a small box with a pistol inside on the approach to a lighthouse, it's easy to see the similarities to the previous games within the first few minutes.

Once we arrive at Columbia, we are greeted with some stunning set pieces, reminiscent of Rapture and in perfect Bioshock style. The game is a visual masterpiece that truly takes your breath away on your first site of the floating city. The 1912 era of graphic design and advertising was a time of vibrant colours and simple typography which is reflected brilliant in and out of the game. If you follow me on Instagram, you will probably see the cover mixed in with the collection of photos of my dogs. If you were vigilant enough, you would notice that you can swap the cover around to reveal a stunning new piece which depicts the Songbird (Big Daddy of Columbia) towering over the floating city. As you can already guess, I liked the visuals and the character design was exactly the same with the fresh face of Elizabeth to the rock hard faces of the police that you will inevitably burn to a crunchy crisp. From visuals to sounds, you notice the crackles of the vinyl over the phonograph and the buzz of the classic microphones of the time. The flick of a coin is so simple yet so satisfying to hear. The selection of music is much like the previous with some Creedence thrown into the mix. The tension builders moved from "How much is that doggie in the window?" too new pieces created for the game.

Compared to previous entries, Infinite has an increased focus on character development that really grips you and allows you to develop a connection to both Booker and Elizabeth. Booker is a man with a past full of darkness and incredible fighting capabilities that gives him the typical badass protector persona throughout the game. Juxtaposed against Elizabeth, who spent her life locked away reading and has become quite unaware of life outside of her walls, therefore becoming quite innocent. The story starts off quite gradual and simple yet a couple hours in, the twists start to kick in in true fashion with an ending that catches everyone out and leaves you reconnecting your jaw back to your skull... Elizabeth's powers become vividly apparent but can also really help in combat scenes. Unlike most female accomplices in games, I actually like Elizabeth. She doesn't get in the way, she doesn't get attacked (All combat comes your way) and doesn't bitch on...Looking at you Resident Evil 4.

Combat is fluid and with Elizabeth's abilities, it helps to ease the onslaught of enemies when you are dry on ammo. She even finds money, health and salts for you throughout to aid in combat. A few little glitches allowed me to take out some of the baddies far easier. One being a collection of them getting stuck in a door only to be blown into pieces with my flaming shotgun. Weapons range from the original to the wacky, much like the characters you go into battle with. Fighting a robotic version of Washington with a Gatling gun is a terrifying experience and can come as a shock when they appear in groups. It is a shame that certain enemies didn't appear much throughout the game, only appearing once of twice, but this may change in the upcoming DLC.

With a game length of approximately 12 hours, it can be easy to smash out a day but it's a game that draws you back into the story to see if you can better yourself or if those decisions you made will effect the outcome of the game. HINT - It does in 1999 mode (Unlocked once you complete it on normal). It may be my Xbox but there was some laggy moments which slowed down the game for me but didn't affect combat. Surprisingly they have also removed the multi player mode which I actually quite enjoyed in Bioshock 2 and could have had potential.

Overall I loved the game, I'm a hardcore fan and would love a sequal (if possible of course). With its astonishing visuals, sounds, fluid combat and story, I give this game 10/10!
Now I can go to bed!

Gears of War Judgment REVIEW -SPOILERS-

Well hello everyone!, Sorry I haven't been able to do much apart from the odd trailer. Essays ain't fun!

Anyway, as you can already see, this review is about Gears of War Judgement (4).  On hearing about a sequel to Gears of War 3, I couldn't understand what they would be able to do when the Locust swarms were defeated and human society began rebuilding. However, we start a few weeks after the great war that the COG's fought in the Pendulum War's against other nations and in the aftermath of Emergence Day. Here we follow a younger Lieutenant, Damon Baird and his team 'Kilo Squad'. To set the scene, Kilo squad are dragged into a large complex while being labelled as war criminals, each character the reports to the leader of the Onyx core (Elite soldiers) in a tribunal hearing while Locusts fight the defences outside. As each character explains what happened, we play through their experience leading up to the 'crime' that they committed.

An interesting introduction and plot that managed to keep me involved. Yet that isn't hard when the main campaign took me approximately 6-7 hours of playing - Yes, I'm tired after playing till 2am but it just didn't feel long enough. For a game that costs up to £40 with an even higher RRP, you would expect to get a lot for your money. They even dropped in an extra campaign which is called Aftermath, this only took 1-2 hours. In this we follow Baird and Cole in Gears of war 3 as they go find a ship and some reinforcement for the final assault. This should have been a DLC pack or part of the story for the game it is involved in. It leaves me to think that this game was simply an opportunity of get some extra cash out of fans like myself.

Very little has changed in the world of COG's. Visuals are astonishing, with vast landscapes that need to be on a nice big 1080p screen! With new games, I will always look at their fire effects. This is my indication on whether a game is well made and well funded or vis versa. Gears had this effect which is brilliantly demonstrated with the first few minutes of game play, with a tree engulfed in flames filling the sky with a black fog. All the standard controls are back, no change there. They are still a little fiddly to start and can be a slight annoyance when you want to turn around sharply to smack a dude upside the head with your Lancer-chainsaw combo. Cover based shooting is always good but annoying when you try to switch between cover. I have also never understood how they are still alive when they hulk over any of the cover, but you know, it's only a game.

I've yet to test the online game play for this but seeing I have some time before the release of Bioshock, I should be able to give it a little poke. I know the standard games are back with all new maps. From my previous experience, online games can be really fun and do require a lot of team work between players to win matches like Horde, where you are bum-rushed by tons of the slimy gits.

Overall, the game is great fun. I'm a big fan of Gears and a big fan of excessive violence in games. As much as this is an unnecessary follow up to a game which ended quite clearly, the story was gripping and helped to describe a deeper look into Baird's background before he meet Dom even when it appears to be a way to get some extra cash, but we all know big corporations wouldn't go doing that now...Wink wink, nudge nudge...

 For this game, I will give it 7.5/10
(Because I can!, that's why!)

Tomb Raider 2013 review!

Hey guys, sorry for the late review, but now I’m back again and reviewing the new Tomb Raider game by Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix. Enjoy. 

 

The game shows the origin story of the young Lara Croft who became shipwrecked on a uncharted island somewhere near the region of Japan. There she is, forced to use all her ingenuity and strength to survive against the hostile locals, but also to discover the secrets of the island.
Due to the game being the origin story, it is a completely new beginning for the Tomb Raider series.

First of all the story is very compelling, however in the first couple of hours I did feel it was very similar to the Lost series. Why I think that is because other people get stranded on a mysterious island that has hostile locals, plus some weird un-dead zombie people. I quickly get over it. What I did have trouble with (well it made me laugh more than anything) was how unmatched the game play was to the cut scenes. What I mean by this is that Lara's character is very different from the one you actually control (in the beginning). You start off with a few cut scenes of Lara being very afraid and being very hesitant when killing a deer to eat. But then a few seconds later, you shoot arrows until the cows come home; killing wildlife around you for extra XP. Later, Lara kills her first person where one minute she is crying on the floor and the next, shooting off rounds into everything that moves.

Other than the differences of character between game play, Lara's character is well written. In fact, so well that other supporting characters seem very two dimensional in comparison! You do get to hear about what the other characters are thinking in little diaries you find around the island which adds a little bit of depth and substance, but not much more.

The controls and game play were what really hooked me; fighting, moving, jumping, climbing and shooting all felt really smooth and easy. Thank God there were no annoying camera angles! Crystal Dynamics did a really good job there.

The island Lara is stuck on is immense and fantastic to explore. Plus, if you can’t be asked to explore during the main story you can go back and explore the places you missed with some new gear after you finish it.

The puzzles themselves were not that difficult, there was only one puzzle which made me think a little harder, but luckily you don’t have solve any of the puzzles to continue in the main plot; going against the tomb raider series.

Looking back, I do have some minor complaints about this game, but to be honest I loved this game so much so that I couldn't wait to come back from work to play it. I loved the story, the action packed game play and the vastness of the island. It really made me want to look around for new treasures. I could continue explaining pros for this game for ages but bottom line is, if you want a game to kill a few hours while exploring a huge island, solving puzzles and killing hostile locals I really recommend this game to you. 9/10
BTW the multi-player sucked.