Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel - Quicky Review

 

I'm rather disappointed by this new Borderlands. I was hooked from the day they released info on the playable characters and that Claptrap was actually one of them. Being my favourite character and all, I was excited to get my hands on it at this years EGX, only to feel that the game wasn't as smooth as I hoped. "Perhaps that's because I'm playing on a PC that has a really low sensitivity setting" I thought to myself. Alas, I was wrong. The game has an awesome premise. Jump back to the beginning with the introduction of Jack before he became Handsome Jack - The Hyperion boss.
My problems stem more from that actual gameplay and its lack of change. If something works, don't fix it seems to be what was going through their minds on creating this. The game has had many issues with it through the years and nothing has been done to really address these issues. One of this issues are the image and texture rendering. I run the most recent Xbox 360 and hasn't incurred any damage to give it reason to run slowly or have any issues but it was having huge problems loading in textures and left some areas resembling smeared feces. It was always something that bugged me with the previous games. Although they are quite old now and software was different, I just let it slide but when you have the huge increase of technology in consoles in preparation for the next gen releases, things like this shouldn't be happening more often that you find a hooker in the red light district. The style of the game is great and with them working with Telltale games to create an episodical based game is something that could really flourish but the here and now is rather disparaging. Its not just wandering about the map and loading in areas poorly, its also mid combat where the game cannot cope and begins to grind and drop frames rapidly, albeit momentarily, it is another common occurrence that severely hampers the flow of the action.

Now combat also had its fair share of problems. The slowness of movement does little to help with my play style and comfort but my main angst is with the balancing. Playing as Claptrap, a robot, you would think rigid aim with weapons would be something rather standard but aiming down the sights of a rifle will only aid you if you wish to hit anything a mile away from your target in an attempt to scare them off. As a character, he has always been funny and I will always choose him over anyone else, yet he seems extremely underpowered. Combined with his Vault Hunter.EXE power and skill tree it can all do more to screw you over rather than the ones you should be killing. From Claptrap to general enemies, you won't find anyone actually level with you for a fair fight. If the enemy is equal to below your level, you waste them faster than Charlie Sheen with some 7gram rocks and if the enemy is higher than you, run. Run like the wind. If you can't get into cover quick enough, get riddled by every single round they fire. Their aim is impeccable and enough to kill in seconds. The balance for everything is grossly disproportionate. Some bosses where hard as nails while the very last boss only took a pistol and a repetitive action to kill.

So, terrible balance, the accuracy of a blind man firing a 50.Cal and a piss poor skill tree that hinders more than benefits. What do we really have left? squat. Sure the story was quite good and a nice insight into who Jack was prior to going crazier and the process that unfolds but it does become a real pain in the ass when you feel you've reached an end only to be slapped with another thing that requires you to run back and forth for another hour just so you are at a level equal to the quest. Its not something that has sat very well with me. I enjoyed the first 2 but I'm seeing nothing exciting, innovative or game changing in a series that was growing in popularity so well. I'm thoroughly disappointed. With huge potential, came great disappointment. At the price of £30, its not too bad but I suggest, no, I implore you to get it when it drops into the 15-20 range to tide you over between releases that are going to be far better. 6/10.

Assassin's Creed - Rogue - Trailer News

EDIT: The trailer has now been removed

In the last week news of a foreign retailer releasing a pre-order for a previous generation Assassin's Creed titled "Rogue" - previously under the codename Comet - has gone viral amongst the gaming community.

Riding on the hype of this news, an apparent still leaked (and trailer) from the upcoming trailer has surfaced on the web. Documenting the release for November 11th which follows Unity's release on October 27th. Demonstrated by the image sources say that we are keeping to the style that made Black Flag such a success. This being a new assassin, a big ass boat and a vast map to play with presumed to be the Arctic. I can't deny, no confirm the validity of these claims so we simply will have to hold on to see.

What are you hoping for from codename Comet/Rogue and do you feel its too much for one year? Leave your comments down below!

Source - http://kotaku.com/leak-shows-off-rogue-this-years-last-gen-assassins-cre-1616239537

Murdered: Soul Suspect - Review! - Can We Crack This Case?

Murdered: Soul Suspect seems like its been heavily under-publicised. The overall advertising campaign is sufficiently weak for a Square Enix production that steps away from the common horror thriller of shooting everything with a pulse. Soul Suspect has opted for a non-combat approach with the need to immerse the player into the world and the story. Our protagonist is Ronan O'Connor; a detective with a rough past whose in search of Salem's serial killer threat -- The Bell Killer. Through an encounter with the Bell Killer, Ronan is thrown from a 4th story window, barely concious after the fall, the killer plants 7 rounds from Ronan's own sidearm into O'Connor's chest killing him in a matter of seconds which are the burning lights emanating from his chest. Upon watching his death in his ghost form, Ronan now takes on the mission of finding his killer alongside the other victims of the Bell Killer to head towards the light.

The story is actually very short. I would put it down to the fact that the story appears to happen over a single night and in real-time could be the 6-8 hours I playing the story and maxing out the achievements. Going back through to get some extras I had missed meant I had to go to the 80% mark of story completion and got there in a little over 2 hours considering the fact that clues and information were fresh in my mind. Being so short, many would suspect the story of being weak, limited in character development and basic. Only one of these stands true and to my dismay its the character development. Although we get little eye-dents throughout the gameplay which review Ronan's life, they are fairly lacking and generic TV tough cop. The loss of his wife was never explained but can only be assumed that it may have had something to do with the Bell Killer and his rough past as a delinquent who served time is a little different but play no role in his progress as a protagonist. Unless you go through and read every little note, you probably can't connect to him as well as could be hoped and its saddening for a character that drew me into a genre I'm very unlikely to play. In comparison, the story is filled with unexpected turns and a finale that's exciting and enthralling.

With a track record of gorgeous looking Final Fantasy's visual expectations for the game are enormous. Disappointingly enough, the cut scene quality was good, but no Final Fantasy and when in game, players look like they are made of rubber rather than flesh and bones. Considering that I play on the next gen Xbox One, quality of visual aspects is what is selling these consoles. However, I digress. The quality of the world is perfect. The creepy atmosphere of Salem's dark night life coupled with their afterlife is brilliantly portrayed through the pallet of dark hues and ghostly memory imprints of past structures. Glossing over the rubber faced characters and AI's, visually the movie is great and the set of the world is amazing to look at and occasionally run straight through. Including a soundtrack which immerses you in the land of the dead. Gradually peaking in moments of excitement and dropping its tone sharply when shit is about to hit the fan.

Now the gameplay isn't simply walking about and finding clues. We all know the notions that the midpoint between life and death that is filled with spirits of not just lost souls but also of the broken and tormented who terrorise those lost. The demons that haunt the world stand as a danger for Ronan and commonly appear though their demonic forms or portals that clasp their victims and drag them to the pits of hell. The only way to defeat these apparitions, you must avoid the portals through possession and rip the corrupted from their form, freeing them of their binds. The game plays almost like a platformer with puzzles to solve and dangers to avoid and is surprisingly enjoyable even if you can't use a physical weapon to kill. Inspiration looks as if Alan Wake was involved with its unique system for dealing with demons in a really simply and easy method meaning that the overall market
for the game is vast. Not just the hardcore gamers. Although, it really appeals to achievement hunters like myself. With incredibly easy achievements based simply on roaming the streets and solving deaths and regular story missions, many of the achievements are simple to get. For the large collections you are more than likely going to need to use the games online interactive map on the Square Enix site as the game lacks this function or the flurry of videos popping up on youtube. With it being so short, rounding off the missed collectibles won't take long on a speed run. I would highly recommend doing these as the ghost story collectibles reward you with tales that are very grim and chilling to the bone.

Although it misses a map for direction, the interactive map can guide you but doesn't look very good whatsoever and can be ignored. I cannot confirm the prices on other deals but I managed to get my hands on a limited edition copy for less than the standard package which includes this neat little book which holds clues, story hints, some artwork and a message from the artists. The little addition is well made and is a wonderful extra on top of a wonderful game that I shall be rating an 8/10!

Have you played Murdered: Soul Suspect yet? Let me know what you thought in the comments!

Watch_Dogs - Review! - Was it worth the wait? - SPOILERS

After spending every available minute I had on Watch Dogs over the past 2 days, I have finally completed the campaign mode and a few of the little extras. Now considering that I've been waiting for this puppy since the first reveal trailer early last year, I was major league bummed to turn up to Eurogamer and find that they only had a stinking demo presentation that we couldn't get our hands on, then to find out that it was pushed back until now stung. The 3rd person sandbox RPG was enough to capture my attention after my huge admiration for Red Dead Redemption a few years back (Still one of the best games known to man...) and blended with a modern world piggybacking on the recent NSA coverage makes this quite a topical game.

Since playing that game, I have got a lot of gripes with the game. For something that I've spent a year waiting for, I'm rather pissed. If I'm annoyed now, I dread to think what was wrong originally to push it back. Straight away we have the driving. Normally, I'm a good driver in games and I get the hang of it very quick but setting foot in a car in this game is one of the worst possible things you could do. Every damn vehicle has the turning circle of a lorry and apparently the ability to perform a burnout when you gently accelerate. The camera angles may as well have been shoved up Aiden's ass as they are some of the worst possible angles I've ever seen and when the majority of time is spent in the fuckers, you have no hope of avoiding them. I'm not expecting that Watch Dogs should be like GTA, but when you can't shoot out of your own damn car or throw/use equipment, it is useless to expect us to be able to take down certain targets who spend all the time on highways in armoured trucks and are near no environmental factors. The only decipherable way to ram them and in doing so do more damage to your car than you inflict and then stealing other cars only to wreck them a moment later. By wreck and run them off the road, by that I mean the poorly animated collisions which are more likely related to morphing. Hitting vehicles along the road almost always looks as if you're transpiring through them like a ghost... So yeah, I despised the driving. To the point I would be willing to never drive in game again. A quick tip, get the Uplay points and unlock that car or steal a car. Buying them is pointless. Other than getting the bonuses, Uplay works whenever the hell it chooses and the ubisoft servers would regularly not work for me and trying to exit to the menu doesn't work at all for me and stayed at one spot while I was away for 3 hours.

Now the core part of the game is the hacking. In advertisements, it portrayed the fact that you could

manipulate everything or a high proportion of things, yet when in the thick of the game play, its

rather sparse for variety but a lot of copy and pasting which can become repetitive if you play as sessions like myself. Apart from the driving mechanics, hacking was easy to do and infiltrating places was also incredibly easy if you didn't fancy the run and gun approach and have some patience. Using the environment to pick people off was rather amusing but if you didn't feel like it, you could easily beat your way through with very little resistance. If you hadn't heard, not long before its release, information was revealed that Watch_Dogs was in a higher resolution for the PS4 rather than the Xbox One. I cannot tell much difference on the One but I do get a little wound up by the fact that its scratched in on a 720p setting for HD. Albeit, the game looks nice and plays the Final Fantasy trick. Luring people in with images from cut scenes that use high standard visuals rather than the core graphics is always a cheap move to make but otherwise it looks good. The gripe is when you're being hacked, the full screen starts blacking out. Now, in reality, why does the screen go black? How can we actually be blinded? Are we a fucking robot!? Let's put ourselves into the future into the Watch_Dogs world. In a time when HD is advancing incredibly fast into 4K, why is it that music and screens glitch in game. Surly the outcome would be crisp shapes with no static and light skipping? Apparently not. In the words of Sips, it makes me want to rip my dick off.

Now, the real reason many by games is the story. I as one of them were satisfied. The campaign was sufficiently long, spending an age going between them probably prolonged the period and there is a lot of side missions to do along the way. The story is hinged upon the past actions by our lead --Aiden Pearce. The loss of his niece has led Aiden to become this masked vigilante called "The Fox", although you only find out the name at 2 instances; midway through and right at the end. As he tries to do good Aiden's new persona has put his remaining family in danger and they need his help to save them. It spirals through 3 villains that all have a lot of roots in the underground and cyberspace. Without spoiling much, the end was a little dramatic but satisfying after the hours you invest. The inevitable "boss" was pretty damn easy when you can set up a load of bombs and the death by the hacking of some personal equipment was an brilliant idea. Somewhat morbid but I couldn't help but revel in how much awesome there was in that moment. As an over arching story, it was average. It's been enough to spark the interest of media outlets who want to discuss its inevitability in the real world but they do the same in Die Hard 4.0 so it's not this new big thing...

So my overall score really focuses on how much I enjoyed it. Apart from the fact that it glitches like a bitch at times, the driving is enough to drive me insane and that the story could be covered in the next buddy cop comedy movie with Ice Cube and Kevin Hart, it was rather fun.  Blowing stuff up and shooting people is what's at the core and that does it for me. Although I can't quite justify the wait, I'm giving this a 7/10. Also the fact that "collectors edition" is more, "collect these 5 different additions with different things if you want everything because we are going to milk you like a little cow"...Cheers, guys. Plus, when you advertise something, don't ruin the secrets and create new scenes which never appear in game...

Watch Dogs Release Date Revealed

Wondrous news everyone!

Within the last few hours a brand new trailer was released by Ubisoft depicting a release date of May 27th and the plot for the game! Check the trailer down below and leave your opinion in the comment section below!

After it's hugely disappointing delay, a lot of fans were very miffed about the sudden change of heart and only turning up to Eurogamer with a playthrough of the demo that we couldn't get a hand on made it all the more worrying. Here's me hoping for the best from a notoriously good studio with a back catalogue of Assassins Creed games and Far Cry 3!

Titanfall Beta - REVIEW!

As many of you may have noticed, the Titanfall Beta ended last week. I've left a little time between posting this to allow for it to settle down and hear some new information running up to the release. Down below is one of the first videos I uploaded to Youtube of my Titanfall antics. If you'd like to like, subscribe or anything else, simply go to the channel/video!

Titanfall is undoubtedly one of the, if not THE biggest game coming out this year. With rumours circulating about MLG competitions and Xbox One bundle with reduced price, this game is going to sky rocket even further than before. Based entirely online, the game has one weakness; No single player campaign. The lack of story worries me initially as it removes a lot of the potential. The story could be extremely fast paced and would be great to understand the warring factions. Although news of an online campaign within the multiplayer matches addresses these, it relies on others to pull their weight and also a stable internet connection to enjoy for a long period of time.

Ignoring the story, the Beta was simply an online stress test of their servers and checks on any glitches or bugs that may occur. Looking back at GTA V and others, the popularity of a beta would have solved many of the problems that plagued (and still do) its launch. With games like Bungie's Destiny later this year and Defiance (based on the Syfy channel TV show), it feels as if we are journeying towards multiplayer being the key component for gaming on the next generation consoles and Titanfall is the first to really open this.

If you care to look at my videos, it is easy to see how chaotic the game is. It feels like an all-out war zone although it's only 6v6, the inclusion of AI minions/grunts/spectres and the auto Titan function, the battlefield is packed. All the space is usable and easily accessible with the double jump and wall run functions but you cannot camp out as accessibility to every spot is incredibly easy. The fast paced nature and goals of each game also force you to keep moving and stop people from hiding in a corner under the stairs and delve right into the thick of it. All of it's mechanics are flawless and it flows brilliantly. All of the additions can switch the tide of a game for better or worst in a matter of seconds and it truly gets the blood pumping with no "WTF, How the fuck did he get me" when you no damn well how they got you. I couldn't get angry or rage quit like Call of Duty can do from time to time. Titanfall puts you in a zone and just doesn't let go!

As it stands, the game has the potential to be the biggest thing coming out this year. Smashing the CoD franchise into dust with it's new take on first person shooters and multiplayer team play. Jumping from this to CoD is probably the worst decision I have made and simply cannot wait for it's release!

Top 5 Games of the Year - 2013

Looking back over the year of games, I have noticed that very little actually caught my attention. Apart from the generic continuation of the basic and repetitive instalments of CoD and Battlefield, that leave little to be desired apart from a new 6 hour campaign and new maps for the online play. I would have written have like to have done an unboxing video on the youtube channel (Black Ribbon Gaming Youtube Channel) of the new generation of consoles but seeing that I could just about afford the Xbox One and only just received it, I felt it a little pointless to do one so late on. I would also like to stress that I only have an Xbox 360. PS3 games, unfortunately, cannot make it into my top games as of yet.

In no particular order:

1 - The Walking Dead - Telltale Series.
Yes I know that it came out last year but the full hard copy came out earlier this year with every episode and also the 400 Days dropped too. Plus the new one comes out in a few days and I'm wetting myself with excitement. Possibly one of the most innovative games in many, many years.
A cinematic story that forces you to make moral decisions that affect you later on (Don't worry, forums and Wikia will help you to get the perfect ending that will help you in the next series!). With a creative art style and brilliant script writing, this game will stand as one of the best for many years too come. The Walking Dead - Review

2 - Bioshock Infinite
Originally destined for release in 2012, Bioshock was pushed back into the earlier part of this year. Saddened by the wait, hopes were high for an even stronger game. In true fashion, it was out of this world. A change in scenery was worrying to think about but the overall outcome gave you a new story that can go so many different ways. Take the DLC for example. You get to return to Rapture and it's just awesome to see the world again but with people actually living there, not some crack heads and adorable Big Daddies... A tense and exciting game. Ken Levine has done it again and should just be aloud creative freedom to do what he pleases! Bioshock Infinite - Review

3 - Tomb Raider
An unexpected favourite of mine. Earlier this year, Josh wrote a review praising it for being amazing. I held back for a while. I didn't want to spend too much money on something that I may not enjoy. Eventually I caved in and bought the special edition box set version with some really cool additions in it for only £20. Bargain! I kid you not, the game was awesome. A mix of fantasy carved into a survival story doesn't always work but Square Enix knocked it out of the park. A vast landscape with lots of free-reign to do as you please but enough guidance to keep you on track without being too intrusive. Combat is simple and realistic and the visuals are astonishing. Nothing short of incredible and too think they have just released a special edition with upped graphics for the next gen consoles. Square Enix have a prize winner by keeping their trademark cinematic footage but moved away from sponging from the Final Fantasy series. Tomb Raider - Review

4 - Assassins Creed 4 - Black Flag
Yeah. Do I really need to explain this? Pirates, Assassins, Sailing, killing shit and all that fun stuff that we've come to expect from the AC franchise. I'd have to question you if you did not enjoy this. The story is far superior to AC3, the visuals are fantastic, sailing is no longer a gimmick and you're a motherfucking pirate assassin! The game drops the mini games and really focuses on experiencing the incredibly vast world. It's sandbox but MASSIVE. A very similar combat system with little change makes it easy to jump back in and frolic around the deck of your ship, pestering the local wildlife or stabbing anything in a red coat... Assassins Creed 4 - Review

5 - Grand Theft Auto 5 (Not the multiplayer)
One of histories most successful games, this list simply could not ignore it. Seeing that GTA4 bored me, I wasn't expecting to have so much fun. Yeah, it lacks top of the range visuals and is extremely glitchy but the huge story and the mad antics are entertaining. It's a game you can pick up and enjoy without having the use your head. However, I don't enjoy the multiplayer much. It's a cluster of people paranoid that they're going to get wiped and will shoot without a thought. Simple, crazy and unruly.  Great with a few friends, some beer and some terrible food.

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