“We work in the dark to serve the light. We are assassins”

 

Title: Assassin’s Creed
Director:  Justin Kurzel

Top cast: Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons and Brendan Gleeson

Based on: Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed franchise

 

Movie adaptions from video games do not have a very good reputation. Bad scripting, bad acting and way of point in plots. Remember the old live action movie of Super Mario brothers? So does the Assassin’s Creed movie adaption rescue this reputation?   

 

What is Assassin’s Creed?
Back in 2007 Ubisoft released a new video game for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC called Assassin’s Creed. And from then until now  this series has been a industry success in video games, with nine full games and 17 spin-off titles. (Including a few short films and novelisations)

 

Assassin’s and Templars have been in war for centuries, where templars have tried to remove the assassins from the world, so they could have world domination. Assassins keep this in line by stopping them and protecting artifacts, like the “Apple of Eden”.

 

Story
The movie starts off in 1492 Andalucia Spain, introducing the “Apple of Eden”. This artifact is said to contain the genetic code to man’s free will, and this is being hunted for by the Knights Templar. But standing in the way of the Templars ability to control freedom of thought are the Assassin’s.
And the leader of this era’s Assassin’s is Agulair (played by Michael Fassbender).

The story itself is mainly in present time, as the plot and storyline is more focused on what is happening today than back in 1492. How can the story be in present day and 1492 at the same time you say?

This is happening because of something called the Animus. Abstergo industries as the company in control of Templars are being called, own a machine Animus. Here they connect a person to the machine and enter the person’s DNA code, and finds one’s ancestor. Reason why they are doing this? Lynch is being told: “To pioneer new ways to end violence”.

 

Without saying to much to spoil the movie, there is more to it than that, as the Templars are on the search of the “Apple of Eden”.
As Lynch connects to the Animus, to enter Agulair’s storyline where he jumps, climbs and fights his way through templars, so does Lynch in present day. As they are being connected to each other, what Agulair experienced back in 1492  Lynch can experience in present day. Complicated, yes.

 

Is the movie “spot on” from the video game series?
Yes and no, the war between Assassin’s and Templars, Apple of Eden, Abstergo Industries and the Animus sort of, are all from the videogame series. But every character and storyline is a standalone and doesn’t have anything to do with the videogames at all. The animus are a little bit different in the movies than in the video games. And to be honest, I like the new animus, and I hope the rumours are true. That Ubisoft are going to use this animus in future Assassin’s Creed games. The original animus is just a one sized “shrink” bed with a few screens over your head.

 

Verdict
Many wouldn’t agree on this, but I think Michael Fassbender did a good job acting as both Agulair and Callum Lynch. Sadly the script isn’t that well written or told. You can see that Ubisoft and the directors are trying to protect fan-interests, but they are rushing through the story and might feel half finished sometimes. The CGI and music can be little bit annoying sometimes, but not an issue.

All the stunts and fighting sequences are all entertaining to watch and well coordinated.

Overall a average action movie, and one of the good movie adaption of video games. If only the script had been better.

 

6/10

+ Fan interests
+ Stunts and fighting sequences
+ Cast

– Script / Storyline
– Music
– Rushes through storyline   

 

Name: Destiny 2

Developer:  Bungie

Publisher: Activision

Released: 05.09.17

Platforms: Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC

Reviewed on: PlayStation 4

 

Finally it is here after countless patrol mission I could now finally take my guardian and ghost on a new adventure. My trusted hunter would now embark on a new adventure after years of patrolling space. And what had Bungie instore for me?  Let me just say I was not disappointed!!

 

Graphics

The graphics in Destiny was very good and Destiny 2 does not disappoint. The differences in the environment on each planet is unique and gives so much to the game, you now want to explore the world even further than in the previous game. The texture of the characters have also gotten a boost, and looks more even. Although the game only runs on 30fps this doesn’t ruin the experience.

 

Story

The story in this game is far better than it was in Destiny, the plot and the characters have more depth and you get drawn in quicker. You start with the destruction of the tower by the Red Legion of the Cabal, your guardian comes back to find chaos and ruin as the city is demolished.

 

You have to fight your way through Cabal to get to the leader of the Red Legion Dominus Ghaul, meeting the three guardians of the vanguard on your way too him. As I said the story seems more connected in Destiny 2 than in its predecessor. Conversations with  AI’s is much better and plays a big role and of course that the red line of the story is more easy to follow and that the bad guy have more of an reason to be after the traveler.

 

 

We now have a name and a face to the enemy than just “The Darkness” Throughout the story you get to explore new planets which is more diverse. The planets all have different environment that gives different challenges as too how to move around or the enemies you meet on them. I really like the planet called Titan which is a water planet, and the fighting is on a rig out in the stormy seas. Here you must watch out for sliding objects and not fall in the water. You’ll have to be careful while jumping platform to platform, because the enemy will not leave you alone. And then you can be in the forest of earth, more accurate in the European Dead Zone. Where fallen buildings and forest mash together to make a beautiful post apocalyptic stage infused with a hint of enchanted forest to make a scenery like no other.

 

Gameplay

The game starts off with a blast, this works for both new and old Destiny players. The tutorial is good as it gives new players a feel too how to handle weapons with not too many enemies, but just the right amount so it is challenging enough. With this in mind you can see that they have taken feedback from Destiny, in this game you are more free to explore and  every action you do in the game makes more sense for the whole picture in the end.

 

The classes are the same where you can choose to be a Titan, Hunter or a Warlock.

You can customize your character to be male/female and choose between the same races which is Human, Awoken or Exo.

One thing I would want is more access to customize your character, so it would feel more of your own and not just looking like everybody else. There is a lack of customization options when creating your character.  

Even if the character customization did not improve one thing did, and this goes on the armor of your character, the shader system in Destiny was okey they were expensive to buy and was applied to the whole armour,  now you get them in loot in the new bright engram and you apply them to one piece of armour so you can mix and match them as you wish. But in this version you only get limited with each colour, that can be frustrating when you found something you like.They also get used up as you apply them to a piece of armour so you have to think about your amount as you apply them if you want to have the armour in the same shader.

 

 

Beside choosing this they have also made a few new subclasses for each class, subclasses is an experience tree with special attacks which is different for each class you choose. (Hunter, Titan and Warlock)

As in Destiny the special classes gives something new than not many first-person shooter games have. And in Destiny 2 each class have gotten a new subclass in addition to those that have been in Destiny. It have though replaced one of the subclasses from destiny one, which I don’t want to get into or tell to much about them, you will have to see them for yourself.

 

The controls feels familiar and has not changed much, it feels tight and responsive.

The only thing I could wish for was that the information boxes that appear down at the screen would stay a bit longer.At the beginning a lot of information is let out, sometimes it’s easy to miss when you are caught up with killing bad guys.

A new feature that was very welcome was the flashpoint system in the map. It was a bit different in the start but when you get used to it, it is so much better than it was in Destiny.You can see where the next public event occurs, and of course story missions and other activities.The best part is that you can now fast travel across the map instead of going back to orbit and back in again.

 

Destiny 2 invites for more exploration of the world itself, the system with Lost Sectors is fun and you can find some nice loot in those.This is also a nice way to level up between story missions. I don’t want to say that much about it, so that you can explore this yourself.

One thing that drags the experience down is that you don’t get your Sparrow until you have completed the main story, so until then you have to walk around, of course this might be the thing that got me to explore the world more but in the end of the story I was tired of running around meeting enemies that did not have anything to do with my mission.

 

The level cap is at 20 for now, but even after you’re done with the story it’s plenty to do. You can explore the planets, do public Events, Patrols, Crucible (Player versus Player, PvP) or Strikes (Similar to dungeons or smaller raids). (The new raid and Trials of the Nine is set to launch 13, September this year)

 

One thing I would want, is more new enemies, as I have played Destiny it was a bit boring. They have made some new but not enough. The new enemies are just advanced old ones as far as I have met them, and you don’t see a lot of them before you start to do raids or strikes.

 

The clans now have more features, as an own level system that rewards you with clan enagrams. To get the enagrams you have to get XP by doing Strikes, Activities, Raids and Crucible. You get more clan XP by playing with your clan members. But it is hard to level your clan up with a monthly maximum of 5000 XP per month.

The story is fine to play alone but when you play with other Destiny 2 really comes to its peak, this is what Destiny is all about. just like in Destiny.But if you want to play alone that works fine too, anyway the missions is challenging either if you play alone or with others.

fine as well.  When you are done  playing the story I recommend to join a clan, as I explained before this gives you access to more loot.

 

The PVP crucible is as fun as ever it feels now more easy to master for the new players as the matches are shorter and you now only play 4vs4 in every game.

Here is the different matches:

 

• Clash: kill the enemy team to score points
• Control: capture and keep positions to score points
• Supremacy: kill enemies and collect their crest
• Survivor: kill the enemies to deplete their spare lifes to win each round
• Countdown: you either defend or detonate a bomb to win each round the team who gets to 6 rounds won, win the match

 

In crucible you can now only choose between quick play and competitive plays. But you can not choose which match you want to play, if you dont quit you will be sent on to each one of them in turns.

 

Verdict

 

With all of the above in mind, the game is very good. I loved every minute of it and as it predecessor it’s addictive. Even if the enemies is the same they have been advanced so it is fun to fight them. Destiny 2 is a beautiful and complete game. I can’t wait to see what they will give us in the future.

 

Graphics: 9/10

Replay Value: 7/10

Gameplay: 10/10

Controls:10/10

Story: 10/10

 

9/10

 

• +Co-op

• +Environment

• +New loot system

• +Better story

• +Clans as you now can level them up which gives enagrams

• +The AI feels more alive and real

• +New subclasses

• -Repetitively missions

• -Want better character customization

• -Small storing space in character

 

 

This is an review in progress, as more content will arrive shortly. We will be updating this review when that time comes.

Name: Planet Coaster
Developer: Frontier Developments, Andrew Fletcher
Publisher: Frontier Developments
Release date: 17, November 2016
Platform: PC
Reviewed on: PC

 

Rollercoaster lives on!

The series are not quite dead yet, Frontier delivers us yet another theme park simulator. And this time it’s called “Planet Coaster”.
Planet Coaster has been available for a long time as an early access on Steam, but now the game has fully released.

 

If you love games that brings your creativity ahead, managing your parks economics and so on, then this series is for you. But does Planet Coaster deliver the aspects of an good theme park simulation game?

 

“History”

Back to the game “Theme Park” before Rollercoaster 1 and 2, there were utterly few things to do to make this series better, as the aspect of more focus on roller coasters came. Later on in Rollercoaster 3, did we get introduced to the more action-packed game. Riding the rides you had build, added more things to use for your creativity, and even better graphics helped with the series. And now we got Planet Coaster, sadly the series has not moved a lot forward.

 

Gameplay, Graphics and Audio

Planet Coaster does deliver all the basic when it comes to gameplay. You lay down paths, construct different rides either custom build or pre made, tracing queue lines, building souvenir shops, burger shops, drink stands and so on. Including this you have to make sure that your visitors has enough toilets to use, enough bins, hiring mechanics and janitors etc. There a lot of factors to think of to keep your guests happy including making money, so you can build that awesome ride you want.

It’s easier than before to build rides, the tools are top-notch and very easy to use, click and drag for the most part. The tool system and decorating is where Planet Coaster shines the most.
Every ride or decoration has its own theme. You can choose from different themes like Wild Western, scary, sci-fi and more. The best part with this is the new part added to the game, making your own “blueprints”. If there is something you are missing in the game, for instance wooden cross to symbolize a tomsgrave, than you can make it. I used two blank windows in different positions so it looks like a cross and then saved it. Easy to bring back for later use. You can also download different blueprints made by other players by using Steam’s workshop as well.  

 

But Planet Coaster does not come without it’s flaws, the game comes with three different ways to play. First off is challenge mode, here you are given a plot of land and a starting budget to build the best theme park as you can as well as completing a few objectives. Second is career mode, you will take over a half made park, meeting the conditions as bad economics, unhappy guest and so on. Building up your skills and level as you progress. And finally the last mode to play are sandbox mode, unlimited money, no problems, simply just let your creativity loose.

 

Career mode can be fun for a short time, but every objective you must fulfill to complete each mission is way to simple and not challenging. Gain x guests, build x rides, hire x people, gain x money etc. The only reason i’ve played career mode was to get ideas for my sandbox save.

Sandbox mode is where all the fun was for me, letting my creativity loose and builded my own theme park after my choosing.

Stunning cartoon graphics, overall superb happy atmosphere music in the menu and theme park audio.

 

The Verdict

Planet Coaster does deliver you an excellent theme park simulation game if you are looking for letting loose your creativity, business perspective not so much. Career mode will just let you want more even though you are finished with your mission. Sandbox mode is the place to play here, and a more fully package is hard to find somewhere else.

 

It’s joyful to create rides and share it to people, and even more joyful to see what other people have made. For instance I downloaded a Harry Potter theme park from Steam Workshop, and voila I’ve got a detailed Hogwarts in front of me with rides.

 

8/10
+ Tools / Build system
+ Fun to play in Sandbox mode
+ Scenery / Themes
– Career mode
– Missing a few classic attractions and rides
– User interface could have been simplierer

 

Okay lets just say this at once, yes I’m a 24 year old man who is about to review a TV show for kids. But I can’t help that the Skylanders games is actually fun to play, especially with your kids.

But before we head out to the review of the TV show of Skylanders, you might wonder what the heck this is?

 

What is Skylanders?

The year is 2011, and Activision introduced us to Skylanders. A toys-to-life experience. You’re placing a character on a small platform connected to your console called “Portal of Power” and then the character becomes alive on your television as a playable character. (Yes this is kind of a nightmare for parents, as there is a lot of characters to buy in the store) And from 2011 to this day they keep on bringing us new stories and characters to this universe, and the kids love it. Who didn’t as a kid favour a tv show or comic book in their childhood? (Pokemon for me)

 

“But what does this have to with a TV show if this is a video game?”

Well, in October 2016. Activision Blizzard and Netflix released a kids TV Show as a Netflix Original, and called it Skylanders Academy. Basically just keep on feeding kids with more stories and characters to meet in this universe, but is this bad thing?

Lets try to go into detail on what Skylanders Academy is, give it a score and suggestion on “age limits”.

 

THE STORY

 

We’re following the story of a few friends who are about to join the Skylands team to become a “Skylander” and keep their homeland safe from evil. Spyro the dragon (Justin Long), Stealth Elf (Ashley Tisdale) and Eruptor (Jonathan Banks). Kaos (Richard Steven Horvitz) and his humble slave Glumshanks (Norm MacDonald) keep on trying to destroy the Skylanders and take over the power of the universe.

 

Very basic story setting in general, but it does work with its humoristic sense of humor. As an adult I found the character Glumshanks very funny, with his perfectly delivered one-liners and discussions with his anxiety medication.

 

IS IT ANY GOOD + VISUALS

Visually the graphics and animations are pretty good. Fighting sequences are packed with explosions and fire, just remarkable to watch. The graphics are not “painful” to watch, by that I mean the design, animations and layout aren’t “old school” nor too “modern” either. I can relax while watching this and not feel stressed and annoyed.

 

Small teaser from an episode in Skylanders Academy, we see Glumshanks and Kaos having a small discussion.

 

Is the show any good to watch in general?
Impressive voice casting and one-liners, very nice animations, intriguing but basic storyline.

Both kids and adults who are and are not familiar with Skylanders will enjoy this series, maybe not all but small portions of it if you are very sceptic, or maybe just not childish enough.

 

QUESTIONS TO BRING UP WITH YOUR KID

As with many TV Shows directed for kids,  there will always be questions, morals and other stuff that could affect your kid somehow. Skylanders Academy are not any different with this, so what does this show try to teach kids, and how would this affect kids? These questions are few pointers to bring up with your kids before / after watching Skylanders Academy:

*Can a person be a hero if the person isn’t likeable? How can you balance between good and bad qualities?

*Would you say Spyro is a good leader for his team? How would the team work if everyone acted like him?

*Is the bad guys scary? (How does this compare with fear in real life?)

 

*Language (Sometimes name calling like “Jerk” and “Stupid”)

 

THE VERDICT

Skylanders Academy is a must-see for fans of the series, newcomers might be hooked on the series and starts with the video games right after. (Might just be the point of this)

The show might be confusing sometimes for newcomers, but you won’t miss any crucial plots in the story. But the show does not lack for comedy, action and the struggle between good and evil and of course a lot of magic. When it comes to the moral part and understanding of the story and more,I would say that this series fits with children from age 6 and up.
(Between 6 and 8 I would recommend a parent watching a long)

 

7/10
+ Good for fanbase
+ Humoristic for both children and adults
+ Not over the top on animations / visuals
– Basic storyline
– A little confusing for newcomers

 

Small facts:
* Season two will arrive late in 2017.
* Season one includes 12 episodes, approx. 25 minutes long (except first episode approx. 45 min)

• 1. Skylanders Unite
• 2. My way or the Sky Way
• 3. Missing Links
• 4. Dream Girls
• 5. The Hole Truth
• 6. Space Invaders
• 7. Anger Mismanagement
• 8. Pop Rocks
• 9. Beard Science
• 10. The Skylands are falling  
• 11. Crash Landing
• 12. Assault on Skylander Academy

 

(Skylanders Academy Trailer)

 

Name: Nidhogg 2
Developer: Messof Games

Publisher: Messof Games
Released: 15, August 2017
Platforms:  PlayStation 4, Mac and PC
Reviewed on: PC

 

The fast paced two-player dueling fighter is back with more levels to duel in and with new graphics. But with all of this, is it a improvement?

 

Messof Games made in 2013 one of the funniest two player party games and got praised for it’s simplicity but fun gameplay. What can you do to make a sequel fresh, but to keep it’s core gameplay. The beauty of Nidhogg was in its simplicity. Its minimalist style and two-button gameplay fed into what was a wonderfully streamlined and focused experience. Messof has attempted to expand the multiplayer fencing game with more maps, different weapon types, and a busier art style, with mixed results.

 

Graphics

The biggest change in Nidhogg 2 is the graphics. With Nidhogg looking like a classic 8-bit Nes game, Nidhogg 2 looks like a early PlayStation game. It does look better with the improved backgrounds and better detailed levels.but that also makes some difficulties in the gameplay. With everything that is happening on screen with the backgrounds and levels it’s easy to get distracted with what is actually happening. It is harder to keep track on what your enemy do at all time which has made it difficult to not be killed sometimes.

Gameplay

At it’s core gameplay wise it hasn’t changed much, but new things has been added. The sequel introduces three new weapons: a thicker broadsword, which can be swung from either top or bottom to bat your opponent’s weapon away but leaves you vulnerable in the middle; a dagger, which has a much shorter reach but allows you to stab more quickly; and the long-range bow. Arrows can only be fired in the middle or bottom and can be hit back in your direction, but they’re by far the longest ranged weapons in the game that don’t leave you defenceless afterward. New weapons is a good way to add depth and makes is more refreshing, but when you die you get no warning what weapon you will spawn with next means that you’re often left frustrated that your attempted swipe of a sword failed because you happened to reappear holding a bow instead. arrows take too long to fire, meaning a quick opponent can easily gain the upper hand. Even if they don’t, arrows are pretty easy to dodge, and you’ll be too busy hammering the Square / X button out of frustration to take advantage.

Nidhogg 2 becomes a sport: even onlookers get swept up in the tug of war the game evolves into, and you’ll cheer or cry more in each swing of momentum than most video games manage to muster in a whole campaign. This is a game that is made for couch play it’s a local multiplayer competitive at it’s best. Just remember to warn your neighbors before having a Nidhogg party, because it will be screaming and laughter.

If you don’t like to play with someone in the same room, there is also online mode 1v1 and tournament mode. It doesn’t give the same excitement as local play  but it’s still fun.

 

Verdict

Nidhogg 2 is a great party game, that is easy to pick up and play. Even with it’s flaws it is a great game that can give many hours with fun. And even though the new content is a hit or miss it’s the same game at it’s core

 

8/10

 

 

• +Intuitive, easy controls make it perfect for new players to pick up and play.

• +Exhilarating when it goes right, and hilarious when it goes wrong.

• +An excellent party game.

• -New weapons are unbalanced and detract from the original game’s simplicity.

• -Updated art style makes it harder to immediately see the action.

 

 

“Well written story in the campaign, might be the best story in Call of Duty series”

 

Name: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Release Date: 4.November 2016
Developer: Infinity Ward, Raven
Publisher: Activision
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Reviewed on: PS4

 

Another year, another Call of Duty game. What can they possible do to please the fanbase and gain our money? – By bringing the fight to space!
I’m very sceptic the direction this franchise are taking, and i’m not the only one as the reveal trailer for Infinite Warfare got on the most hated videos on YouTube.

 

But let us try to have an open mind and dig in on what Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare can deliver to us.

 

STORY
Infinite Warfare’s campaign starts off with classic sci-fi story, as Earth’s resources are getting low, pushing the humanity to colonize in other worlds. And the story won’t be so interesting without an enemy, led by Kit Harrington (Game of Thrones) a new faction rises: Settlement Defence Front. There will be no aliens in the game, just humanized robots.  

 

There is a few big names in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Kit Harrington known as Jon Snow in Game of Thrones, Conor McGregor the UFC fighter and David Hasselhoff in the zombie mode. But unfortunately these names are not so much included in the story as we hoped. The narrative itself is a bit thin, and Kit Harington’s face does sometimes pop up in a small HUD video screaming at you. This happens more often than being intimidating presence.

 

You play as the protagonist Nick Reyes, a lieutenant who undergoes a trial by fire when suddenly being promoted command of his own ship. Reyes has to face different events that can reveal him as a vulnerable leader. The story itself isn’t a huge storyline in hours of gameplay, you will probably use around 5-7 hours to complete the story. But the short story that Infinite Warfare got isn’t bad written by the writers. They have managed to create meaningful characters with depth.
You got Nora Salter, Reye’s ally who up until recently was the same rank as him, Audrey MaCallum, an ex captain and more. Each and every character in the story got backstories or other stories to tell you, I felt that I got connected to each and every one.

The biggest “leap” in the story is the sci-fi part, there aren’t any aliens in the story, but robots. The one who stands most out is ETH3N, or Ethan as they call him. A robotic naval petty officer who takes commands from Reyes. Best part is that this robot got it’s own personality. One good example of this is when he jokes about having a farmers brain and makes light of the rivalry between the Navy and Marines. And he does not sound as an robot, but more “normal human”

 

Even though the story is short, it might be one of the best campaign in Call of Duty’s history since Modern Warfare series.. Good writing, excellent voice acting and thrilling action as a few factors.
I would recommend players to go through the campaign before heading out for the multiplayer, will get back to that later in this review.  

 

GRAPHICS AND SOUND
The graphics are much more than I’ve expected earlier. From being hated on because the trailers looked “old schooled” and so on. But that is not the case here, the graphics are pretty good here, especially in the campaign mode. The effects and looks on the water for example when ships crash in it, it’s mind blowing. The “Jackals” as they call their ships, are not very good designed, but everything else is pretty amazing.

 

But that is in the story mode, when it comes to multiplayer and zombie mode things are different.
You can immediately see that Infinity Ward has had focus on campaign and not the rest. Graphics and design are pushed forward and lacks the most important thing, “creativity”.  

 

MULTIPLAYER

With Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare story mode might be one of the best in the franchise since Modern Warfare, comes the multiplayer. The one part that actually matters for the Call of Duty community. What has happen to the multiplayer?

 

Maps are bad designed, weapons are not balanced, matchmaking is at it’s worst. It feels like the whole multiplayer has been putted in the game because they wanted a multiplayer. Infinite Warfare are not as fluid in gameplay as Black Ops 3, the game move much slower than used to.

As in Black Ops 3 we use the 10 point system to create classes, and instead of choosing special ability character we can choose different RIGS. The concept is there but the RIGS system can’t quite reach what Black Ops 3 did.

 

To bring something positive out from my multiplayer experience, first time you log into multiplayer you will get an “motivation” video. I thought this was very cool and needed to point out. Overall my experience in matches could have been better if the game was better balanced, same goes with weapon balance.

 

One big issue I have with Infinite Warfare’s multiplayer is the “care packages” you can buy with ingame coins to get skins and weapons. Yes I said weapons. You can now get weapons by opening care packages, so instead of playing for weeks to just earn that one special weapon, can you now pay for it with real money.

 

Pay real money to get ingame coins, and there again buy lots of care packages to open up, earning random skins and weapons. This is a big game changer i Call of Duty, Pay2Win as we call it.

ZOMBIE MODE

Treyarch’s success with zombie mode has infected the rest, and now Infinity Ward has joined in with Zombies in Spaceland.

 

If you buy Call of Duty every year just because of the zombie mode, you might be disappointed this year. Zombies in Spaceland is very basic in its fundamentals challenge. In another hand, if you are a newcomer to the zombie mode, than Zombies in Infinite Warfare would be the best place to start off nowadays if you want to keep up on the challenges in previous games. (To get the best experience I would recommend playing zombie mode in COD: World at War)

 

The map design in Zombies in Spaceland are kinda “boring fun”, kaotic paths to run, randomly placed doors, perks and weapons are one of the few bad things. But the theme is 80’s theme park, including are Rollercoasters, slides and David Hasselhoff DJing. You can use different rides as traps, and just keep on killing zombies until you die. One big positive thing about this mode is when you die, it is not boring to die. Earlier you had to watch and wait until the round was over or everybody dies. But now you spawn in an arcade room, while the others fights the undead you can play skee ball, throw basketball, play some old school arcade games for instance Pitfall 2.

 

THE VERDICT

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare comes with a lot of content, and it surprise me a lot in a good way.

Graphics are gorgeous in the story mode, same goes with the story itself and voice acting.
This years Call of Duty could have been one of the best in the franchise in a long time, so it is a shame that the multiplayer is at it’s worst right now. I would actually play Call of Duty: Ghosts multiplayer instead, and that says alot.

Zombie mode are not the best made zombie mode that we are used to, but it isn’t boring.

Strong campaign mode, okay zombie mode and destroyed multiplayer in this years Call of Duty.

 

4/10
+ Excellent written story in campaign
+ Voice acting
+ Looks gorgeous

– Worst multiplayer in Call of Duty
– Zombie mode could used some more work with map design
– Pay to win in multiplayer

Name: Solstice Chronicles: MIA
Developer: Ironward
Publisher: Nkidu
Released: 26 July 2017
Platform: PC

Ironward has made a follow-up, though not a direct sequel, to their 2015 game “The Red Solstice”. As someone with embarrassingly little experience with “two stick shooters”, I plugged in the Xbox controller and fired up Solstice Chronicles: MIA.

Story

Earthlings has been driven to Mars by a virus (STROL) outbreak back on Earth. But in an effort to make a cure – the virus has gotten to one of the colonies at Mars as well. The player is a super soldier that needs to save the mankind. The odds are against you, but luckily Saffron, a very helpful and charming little drone, is there to join you on your mission.

The game features several antagonists, and that might be the biggest flaw with the story. I never understand why this person we just met needs to be chased down and killed – even as I write this, I cannot for the life of me remember any of their names, because I got somewhere between 10 and 30 minutes of them being the next target. The story keeps rushing forward without ever making me interested.

Gameplay

The game starts out a bit clumsy, with the tutorial jumping back and forth between its 9(!) pages. And honestly, the tutorial didn’t explain too much – I still just had to “try-and-miss” a lot before I started getting the hang of it all.

Furthermore, the controls feels funky to me. It might be because my Xbox 360 controller is beginning to feel the years of gaming, but even with mouse and keyboard (which feels plain wrong with the game being a “two-stick fighter”) it doesn’t feel responsive enough. And in case you’re wondering – no there isn’t any option to adjust sensitivity of neither the mouse nor the joysticks. The game features a leveling-up screen between each level which allows you to allot points in several different upgrades, it is a bit much to handle in the beginning as the information about what skills to unlock later on is rather on the short side. However it did get more understandable as the game progressed and I was able to test out more of what was useful and worth spending more points on. What I will give the game a huge plus for is the possibility to play the entire game in co-op mode. Unfortunately I have not been able to test it out, but it is a cool feature nonetheless.

Graphics

The graphics in Solstice Chronicles: MIA is it’s best side. Although it won’t blow you away it is more than good enough for a game like this, with the textures looking rather sharp for an indie game. The sound design on the other hand is not good at all. The gun firing effects doesn’t provide any feedback as it gets drowned by all the background noises without any possibility to adjust it individually. It also has to be mentioned that the sound kept bugging out and kept looping the same 2-3 seconds until the game was forced to shut down. Hopefully the developers will be able to fix this. Weirdly it seems like the text has never been proof-read by a native english speaker, by all means, the subtitles and pages of tutorial is understandable, but the grammar really needs improvement.

The game costs 20€ (currently 10% off) – if you still wanna check it out you can find it on Steam

Name: Get Even
Developer: The Farm 51
Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Released: 23, June 2017
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Reviewed on: PlayStation 4

 

A small polish developer team “The Farm 51” has made one of the biggest mind bending games I have played in recent time. This is an “First Person Shooter” with not much shooting and a puzzler with a small amount of puzzles. But a whole lot of «mind-fucks» that will keep you engaged.

 

 

Story

The story is very good, but in fear of destroying the fun of everyone else I can not reveal too much.
In short, the main character, «Black», is suffering from memory loss and is in a dilapidated mental hospital. Eventually he gets in touch with a mysterious figure called Red.
Black is equipped with a kind of VR headset that lets him visit and explore his memories, and together with Red he must try to get to the bottom of a mystery that contains murder, kidnapping and secret military technology.
It’s a true psychological thriller full of puzzles and mysteries, scary characters and environments, sudden turning points and dark conspiracies, and not least nasty and frequent «mind-fucks».

 

Gameplay

Shoot and sneak
In the world of memories, you are equipped with a corner gun – a gun you can see around corners. One is also equipped with a phone that lets you search for traces, scan interesting objects for DNA, find blood traces and check their position on the map.
The «Corner Gun» mechanics are interesting and useful, but I quickly realized that it was just as effective to brawl into a room to shoot everything that moves. Red tells you that everything you do has consequences.
The shooting part of the game doesn’t offer any revolutionary mechanics. It is clear that it’s meant to be sneaking around. Red constantly scouts that you can not kill too many, because then the memory you are in will be unstable. I chose relatively often to ignore Red, and cut down everything that touched me, without feeling this made any particular difference.

 

 

Graphics

The graphics are not quite in the top, at least not in the PS4 edition of the game. However, it does not matter too much, as it in turn helps to enhance the dirty and cloudy visual style of the environment through which you move.
Although what you see in Get Even may not be anything to write home about, everything else is quite fabulous. Dynamic and creepy, the soundtrack follows the action of the game. What you see is reflected in what you hear. You move through the worn out scenes to a soundtrack of creepy sounds and captives singing the madness’s own hymns.
The heart really starts to pump when the soundtrack intensity reflects the increasing pace in many of the sequences.

 

Verdict

If you let the story draw you in, you’ll enjoy Get Even. I read each document and studied every picture I found in an attempt to puzzle the story on its own.
It’s also possible to rush through the game without drowning so much at the action, but then I suspect the experience is losing weight.
Because it’s the story, the mood and the mental puzzle you have to try to put as the core. So, like a scary environment, a little puzzle and good storytelling, Get Even is  great to pass some time.

 

7/10

• +Great Story
• +Interesting characters
• +Fun mechanics

• -Difficult controls sometimes
• -Some drop in frames occasionally