How good is the newest bloodbath from the creators of God of War and Twisted Metal.

 

Name: Drawn to Death
Released: 04.04.2017
Developer: The Bartlet Jones Supernatural Detective Agency
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Platforms: PlayStation 4
Reviewed on: PlayStation 4

 

Drawn to Death is an attempt to make a fun bloody third-person shooter, combined with a brawler arena multiplayer. The game is set in a sketchbook drawn by a teenager which is bored in class. But can it compete with the others in the same genre?

 

Graphics and Gameplay

Drawn to Death is set in a sketchbook, and the graphics shows that really well. Everything is interpreted that way, with a cell-shaded like with drawings. There is nothing to point out about it, It’s making the game stand out from the others.

 

Drawn to Death features a handful of intricate maps and creative modes, a half dozen deceptively complex characters, and a large variety of weapons that are admittedly fun to experiment with. There’s a shotgun, for example, that can sprout ax blades if you pull the trigger with precise timing, and a coffin that catapults corpses, which you reload by literally yanking a new one out of the dirt.

All this sounds good, but it doesn’t feel good to play. You move sluggish and floats through the air like paper, (no pun intended) and it takes to much damage to kill an opponent because of all the health you start with. An effect of this is that every weapon feels weak, a lack of punch in them.

There is no split screen multiplayer, and only 4 player limit online. This makes the matches boring and short.

 

Drawn to Death is horribly unbalanced. There are a few weapons that is unfairly overpowered, and just ruins the game. Likewise with the character roster, each of the six avatars available at launch has a unique arsenal of abilities, moves and special attacks. And some are just garbage compared with others. Alan, a seemingly pedophiliac teddy bear with a chainsaw, automatically regenerates health, turns invisible at will, and has powerful special attacks. Meanwhile, Johnny Savage, a guitar-wielding punk, is basically useless because his unique abilities – a ground-slam and guitar attacks – require far too much precision to be reliable.

 

And because of all this, this game is going to need updates and new content to be a game that people will play on a regular basis. Add modes that support more players and balance it better is a start.

 

Verdict

It’s  a game that could stand out,  had it just been worked on a bit more. It can be fun sometimes, at least if you play with some friends. But with some odd design choices and unbalanced gameplay ruins the experience, makes the game unplayable. .

 

4/10

 

• Interesting graphics

• Unique characters

• 4 player limit

• No spilt screen

• Unbalanced

 

 

Name: Lego Worlds
Released: 7, March
Developer: Traveller’s Tales
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Platforms: Xbox One, Playstation 4 and Pc
Reviewed on: Playstation 4

 

Lego Worlds is Traveller’s Tales latest game in the Lego franchise, but this time it’s not based on another franchise. This time it is an open sandbox, with the tools to create whatever you want. Yes, this is maybe the game everyone that loves lego want to play. How does it compete against games like Minecraft?

 

Graphics

Let’s start off with the graphics in Lego Worlds, but how do you compare graphics in a Lego game? I played this on a regular Playstation 4 and it looks really good, every little detail is made of Lego. But since release the game have been struggling with framerate on different occasions. When you explore dungeons and new locations, it can drop sometimes. And when exploring  the biggest worlds, textures sometimes are missing.

Story

Well, the story isn’t the reason why you will play this game. And it’s not much to say about it, it’s a simple story.

 

You start as an astronaut explorer, and the spaceship gets hit by a meteor. Then crash lands in a random world, and the spaceship is wrecked. Then we are told we need to find Gold Bricks to fix the ship. The more Bricks you collect the more powerful the ship gets, and further you can travell. And that’s the story, collect 100 Gold Bricks to become the Master Builder.

Gameplay

This is the most important when it comes to a Lego game.

But this game may confuse you, it depends what you want from this game. I bought this in the belief it was more like for example Minecraft, build whatever you want, whenever you want. The game starts of that you collect a tool gun, that you use to store everything you need. People, animals, vehicles and build sets this gun copies and store for you. To use and paste when building or doing quests. Then you get a tool to paint everything you want to with, and the one to lower/raise and flatten the terrain. Those are the basic tools you get to build and change the world you are inn.

 

The last tool you get is one to build things, brick by brick. You unlock the tools right away, so you don’t have to wait a long time to get them. But if you want to build things from scratch with the brickgun, you have to collect every little piece to use them. This can take some time to do, since you have to explore to find them and beat a little green monster that walks around with them. And there is no build mode in this game, so you have to play the game and explore to collect everything you need to build what you want. This may be disappointing for some, that might want to play this game for the building part.

 

But after 30 hours+ in this game, exploring and collecting i have to say i enjoyed it. The world is fun to be in, with its Lego charm the world never feels empty. There is people everywhere that want’s your help, trading, building and collecting is what the quest’s usually is about. So it is a massive universe to explore and you will often forget what you was doing and side tracked a bit.

The menus can be a bit clunky sometimes, that might be because this game started as a early access to pc. But it plays well with a controller,  and is easy to use to explore and build.

Verdict

 

It’s a game with some small issues, but it is a good game i would recommend. With 2 player local and online multiplayer, it’s a fun experience. if you like to be in a massive world and do whatever you want it’s the game for you. But if you just want to build from the start it may be bit slow.

 

7/10

+ A Massive World

+ Fun To Play

+ Entertainment for all ages

– No Build Mode

– Framerate

 

Dynamite or Kryptonite?

 

Name: Injustice 2
Developer: NetherRealm Studios
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Released: 16, May (US) 19, May (EU)
Platforms:  PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Reviewed on: PlayStation 4

 

NetherRealm is back with the sequel to 2013 Injustice: Gods Among Us

with Injustice 2. Once more our favorite heroes and villains are clashing against each other, but with Injustice sometimes our favorite heroes are the villains and vice versa. The DC universe is known for a big roster of interesting characters, has NetherRealm done them justice?

 

Graphics

Let’s start off with the graphics, and I know that’s not why you play a fighting game. But It’s  worth a mention at least. They are using Unreal Engine 3, which is the same they used in Injustice and Mortal Kombat X. Graphics has had a major update since Injustice: God Among Us, it has better details, better lightning and it runs alot smoother. And that’s pretty important in a fighting game framerate, the game flows so beautiful and I never noticed any drop in frames.

 

Character design has been a hit or miss on some of them. Facial details looks really good, but some of them just don’t look like we expect them to. This may just be nitpicking from a huge DC fan.

The stages looks really good, with allot of details in the background and with their own story.

 

Story

NetherRealm brings back story mode in the sequel and it picks up after Injustice: Gods Among Us. Five years after Superman’s defeat, Batman and his collaborators attempt to piece the world back together. However, a new faction, the Society, composed of villains spearheaded by Gorilla Grodd, emerges and plans for world domination. With several of his allies either victims of or collaborators with Superman’s failed regime, Batman is forced to create a new team to combat the Society

I really like this kind of story mode, it really immerse you in a story and with the cutscenes it felt like watching a movie. Old friends turned enemies and relations that is getting tested and must stand together to survive and save the world.

In some of the chapters you can chose between two fighters that you want to use and this changes the story. You will also get some choices to which side you want to play as. This gives you reasons to play through the story once more to unlock all endings.

Gameplay

Here it is, the most important aspect of a fighting game. And luckily NetherRealm has improved the things that worked and made it better, And fixed things that didn’t. It feels more tight and accurate. Combos are easier to perform, and it feels great to mix your attacks to try to punish your opponent the most. And to take away an entire lifebar after a 15 hit combo feels awesome. So in the fighting part the game succeeds.

 

New in Injustice 2 is the gear system, this is the upgrading system in the game but also the customization. Throughout the game you will win “loot” through Bronze, Silver, Gold , Platinum and Diamond boxes which contains items for the characters. Item works as cosmetic changes but also to change and improve stats. Items are level locked so you can’t use all items until you get to level 20. And that’s one of the few complains I have. Since you have to level up your character to use gear, you have to use each and everyone which takes a long time. Or after you level up on character to level 20 you can use source crystals to level others. But source crystals is something you get a small amount when your account level raises. So then you have the option to buy it for real money. And micro-transactions in a full game is never a good thing, we have paid a lot for it, and don’t want to pay money to not have to grind through it.

 

But there is not a lack of things to do in Injustice 2

You got Story Mode, Single Fight, VS Mode, Training and the newest mode Multiverse. This is the strongest mode of Injustice 2, and probably where you will spend the most time.

You fight against opponents from other universes, with different rules and with optional tasks to perform for extra bonuses. You unlock items and gain XP, this is where you play to level up characters if you don’t want to play online. It works like Towers in Mortal Kombat, and is a great addition to the game. This is also where the Gear system shines, you have to set up your loadout for different situations. Say you meet a really powerful Superman, then if you have kryptonite parts for Batman you can use that to easier defeat him.

 

Verdict

Injustice 2 is a complete fighting package, that offers everything you need. Once more NetherRealm Studios have a game to compete against other fighters, and is a great example how to make fighting games of our favorite Superheroes. Micro-transactions is not something we want, but it’s just option if you don’t want to grind to level up. But if you feel this generation consoles have lack of good fighting games this is a great one.

 

9/10

• Good story
• Great fighting mechanic
• Variation in modes
• Solid list of characters (with more coming later)

• Micro-transactions

Name: F1 2017

Developer: Codemasters

Publisher: Codemasters, Koch Media

Released: 25th of August, 2017

Platforms: PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4

Reviewed on: PC

Is this the year where Formula 1 proves it’s still the pinnacle of motorsport (games)? Or will it be an engine failure?

It has been massive expectations to this year’s game. And with Formula 1 having a massive regulations-change this year, the physics engine has had to be revamped, luckily Codemasters has pretty much nailed it. They’ve also added loads of stuff to do, both in and out of the car, and with a whole new game mode, this game has truly lived up to the expectations.

Graphics

First thing that has to be said; this game is stunning to look at. It is by far the best looking game in the series, with blisters on the tires gradually working up, the bodywork slowly drying when you’re in the garage after a wet session, and the engine smoke coming from my McLaren-Honda looking just as it does in real life.

Gameplay

The gameplay feels very realistic to me, who’s an amateur I’ll admit – as I’ve obviously never driven a Formula 1 car myself, but I have driven a fan-simulator at the McLaren-museum, and have driven a fair bit of karting. It must be said that the tires feel just a tiny bit too slippery, with the new regulations supposedly making mechanical grip much better than it has been in years. Otherwise I can’t remember thinking “this feels wrong”, and that is amazing thing to know after playing the game for (almost) four days straight.

This is the first time I’ve caught myself thinking “free practice was actually useful before this race”, as it is filled with small tasks, such as learning the racing line around the track, managing tyres and fuel, and race-simulation, that all grants you R&D-points, if you are able to complete them, that is.

New of this year is the players having to deal much more with engine wear, tyre wear and gearbox issues. As I’ve been playing mostly as a McLaren-Honda driver, the parts kept breaking all the time the first season, before I invested enough R&D-points in reliability. I did not think more about it, as good ol’ Alonso have 5(?) DNF’s so far this season. However, according to Steam users this is an issue with all the cars, at least when you’re not playing 100% race length, although I have not experienced troubles with that myself, I feel this has to be mentioned.

A short note about the “live the life”-aspect of the game it feels somewhat repetitive, and very scripted, I do totally understand that the game need to tell you about how upgrades might fail and such, but it was very obvious that it was destined, at least the first time it happened. I also want to mention Jeff, your race engineer, we have a love/hate relationship, but he feels like a real person, and I keep shouting “shut up, Jeff!” (which you actually can do in-game as well) when he keeps talking while I struggle through a corner, as opposed to thinking of him as “the engineer”, he truly is Jeff.

This year’s game brings back classic cars, and that is a true joy! It’s fun, it’s fast and them appearing during the career mode was a good break from the Honda engine breaking down, I now understand why Fernando Alonso went to IndyCar for a weekend.

The “Championship” game mode is also a great addition to the game, while re-playing the career can be quite boring, this suddenly makes single-player a much better experience for a long period of time before becoming a chore.

Name: 7 Days to Die
Release Date: 28 June 2016 (consoles) 13 December 2013 (PC)
Developer: The Fun Pimps
Publisher: Telltale Games
Genre: Survival Horror
Platform: PS4, Xbox One, PC, Linux, Mac OS
Reviewed on: PS4

 

7 Days to Die was an early access game on Steam back in December 2013, but now the game is released on consoles as well. Telltale games does have its name on the box art, but have in mind that they didn’t develop the game, they just published it on the consoles.

 

Story
There isn’t a linear story behind this game, basically the main quest here is as the title says, survive.

 

Gameplay + Graphics
Let us first get all the negative things about the game away first.
If you are looking for a game with excellent graphics, then this isn’t for you. Since 7 Days to Die is an Indie Game from the studio The Fun Pimps, and is still in Alpha version on both PC and now consoles as well. The console version of the game got the update from 26 March called Alpha 14, but the most recent update released 20 June Alpha 14.7 was only released on PC. So the console version might be a little behind the updates from launch. The console version is said to be a standalone version of this game, but this might be the same system as Blizzard’s Overwatch. (Pre-released in early stages, so both platforms get equal updates)  

Textures are blurry, objects pop ins are frequent and the character models of both player and enemies exhibit the animation range of a mannequin. The framerate on the PS4 isn’t that good and will freeze on certain points, especially when it auto saves. The combat is quite the same as the Dead Island games, but less polished. It feels clumsy sometimes and I’m still trying to figure out how the bow and arrow works.

 

The few issues the console version has now, are something that’s discussed on reddit and how to workaround it. But in my opinion the game doesn’t suffer huge problems as many people would say, and hey, it’s an indie game and it’s still in alpha version.

 

 

If you love Minecraft this game would not feel different, The Fun Pimps aren’t ashamed in borrowing a few elements and inspiration from Minecraft. 7 Days to Die takes these elements and puts it into the survival aspect and uses this as the basis for the whole experience, and for me this is perfectly okay. You collect resources such as wood, rocks, feathers and many many more. You can collect from almost everything in the game. As written before the game doesn’t have an linear story, but the quest is to survive. You begin in an open world and start collecting resources and building or finding shelters. The game also features a short tutorial in the beginning to get you started.

 

As the day goes by and night slowly ascend to you, the undead is changing. During the day the undead walks and isn’t that aggressive, but during the night all hell breaks loose as the undead starts running and is more aggressive towards you (default settings, can be changed)
You can set up a series of traps to defend yourself from the various enemies in the world for survival, same as gaining experience in cooking skills for food to stay alive. Or you can go rambo style and loot everything you find and find shelter in houses or caves during night. The variety of gameplay is many. But keep in mind that the game holds it’s word on the title.

 

7 Days to Die is more fun to play with friends either online or split screen. As the experience by playing alone gets quite boring in length. One big issue I have with this game, is the lack of option to play split screen online, if you have a girlfriend/boyfriend or just a friend visiting and both of you want to play with other friends online, well then you guys must take turns or just play by yourself in singleplayer mode. (Must play single player mode for split screen).

 

 

The Verdict
Any Minecraft gamer will know the addiction and absorbing effect of playing a crafting survival game, and 7 Days to Die does delivers this experience as the hours fly by while you play. Especially with friends online or split screen. The game dosen’t look that bad regarding graphics or gameplay, I think it looks pretty good to be an indie game and still in alpha version.
The game is a very enjoyable experience for a long time despite a few technical issues.

 

8/10
+ Gameplay Experience
+ Variety of crafting
+ Easy yet challenging to learn
– A few technical issues
– Lack of split screen option online
-/+ Addictive

Name: Dead Island Definitive Edition
Plattform: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Reviewed on PS4
Developer: Techland
Publisher: Deep Silver

The original Dead Island game came out in 2011 on last generation of consoles and PC. I’ve played Dead Island on the Playstation 3 system, and I would probably give it a score around seven or eight out of ten.
But it isn’t the the game released in 2011 that I’m reviewing right now, Deep Silver has published a remastered version of all the games. Including all the DLC’s as “One Punch Mode”, “Ryker” and more. Even a retro version of the Dead Island universe.

 

The Story
To sum things up, you are stuck on an island full of zombies and need to escape. If you are familiar with the story, you could easily say that it isn’t changed. You are still in trouble with a bunch of zombies.

 

If you’re not familiar with the Dead Island story, let me try to summon it up for you. You are on paradise island Banoi for holiday and having a blast with drinks and parties. Suddenly a infection spreads around the island and starts turning people into the living dead. You wake up in the middle of the s*** and will try to survive on the island, help others and maybe escape.

The Graphics
Overall the games have been beautifully remastered for this generation. You can see that the developers have been focusing on textures, lighting and small details. There was many moments I’ve just had to stop and watch as the sunset went down. But that is pretty much it, the characters are still in “2011 mode” and haven’t got that much attention.

 

The Gameplay
Back in 2011 Dead Island suffered from bugs and glitches that went on to the gameplay experience. But in the remastered version, all that is gone. Yes maybe not all the bugs, but the few ones that was there weren’t that noticeable.

 

Crafting different weapons for bashing the heads of zombies in bikini is still fun, it is repetitive but still fun as hell. You got your main storyline of course and side quest like bringing water to survivors, and finding lost teddy bears. The side quests can be qutie boring in the length, but that’s not new to the game.

 

The only big problem I got with the remastered version of Dead Island is the frame rate. It’s on 30FPS, and today’s standard should be 60FPS.
I didn’t notice the frame rate problem to be a huge problem on Dead Island, but on Riptide I felt it was unplayable. And that’s a shame, since I think it is a very good game.

 

Slaying zombies with friends on Banoi makes Dead Island and Riptide much more interesting and more fun.
I actually had more fun playing the “Jack Black” look a like retro version of Dead Island in Dead Island Retro Revenge that followed the Definitive edition, when I was playing alone.

The Verdict
Dead Island and Dead Island Riptide does look good in the remastered version from Deep Silver’s new engine that also developed Dying Light.
But unfortunately the gameplay does not satisfy for this generation of consoles with up to 30FPS and with a huge frame rate problem on the Riptide version. But Dead Island is fun to play with friends, and the retro version is also fun to play as stand alone game.

 

7/10
+ Graphics (its a must on a remastered version)
+ A lot of content
+ Fun to play with friends
+ Fun Retro version

– Frame Rate
– A little repetitive side quests
– Not appealing to veterans of the series

Reviewed on the Playstation 4

Back in 2011 THQ released a new shooter game called Homefront, and I was surprised on how good the game actually was. If you know the story behind the “Red Dawn” movies, you will get the feeling that you’re in part of that world. Yes the game has its flaws and some copied from Battlefield and Call of Duty, but hey. It was an alright shooting game.

But then THQ got bankrupt, and a new studio and publisher took over. Dambuster Studios and Deep Silver. The sequel was suppose to launch one to two years after, but got delayed a few times. And now five years later we finally got the sequel, but was it worth the wait?

 

The Story
The story behind Homefront: The Revolution is that North-Korea has invaded america by using a “backdoor” entrance in the technology they sold to the states. Everything from phones, tablets and even military equipment.
We follow our character in a bombed Philadelphia and a small group of people who are fighting back.

The story itself is quite genious, but how the story is told in this game is not worth writing about. It is just unbearable to focus on the story in around 20 hours gameplay. The acting is bad and I never got the feeling to know the people around me. Even the NPC’s around the camp are the same, I found two NPC’s next to each other who looked exactly like.

They say the game is open world, but you follow a very linear story through  the world.

The Gameplay

There is a huge bug in the Playstation 4 version of the game, and that is “lag”. The gameplay feels sloppy and it’s constantly jumping around, with Doom and Uncharted 4 released with 60 FPS, Homefront: The Revolution is a long way under 30 FPS, and that is something I will say is unacceptable in 2016. A bad plot and sloppy gameplay destroys the fun out of a game that could be a fantastic one.

But everything is not negative in Homefront: The Revolution. Like in FarCry you take over enemy camps and destroys a lot of enemy vehicles. Only problem is that this can be a little repetitive, but hey it is repetitive in FarCry too and I loved it.

The big plus in this game is the co-op mode, this mode feels more complete then the story mode. Here you team up with either friends or random people online, the mission is to either defend or attack different areas in Philadelphia. The other thing that this game nailed, is weapon customization. Detailed and fun to use and of course you feel the difference when you change something.

 

The Graphics
If we see away from the unpolished gameplay and badly made NPC’s, the graphics of the city is quite beautifully made and detailed. Landmarks and bombed homes that are illustrating the invasion is good. But that’s pretty much it. Dambuster Studio hasn’t used the potential of the Playstation 4 and it still feels like we’re in last generation of consoles.

The PC version of this game is more beautiful and more polished, same as the gameplay on PC. So the developer team has been very lazy when it comes to the console version of this game.

 

The Verdict

The cool concept and the beautiful world in Homefront: The Revolution, despite the co-op is not enough to make this game feel complete. The feeling lays with unpolished and to repetitive gameplay, and it’s simply failing on delivering a first person shooter game.

 

My score is based on the Playstation 4 version of this game. It might be a little better on the PC, since the game is more polished there.

 

3/10
+Weapon Customization
+ World Design
+ Multiplayer

– Unpolished and annoying bugs
– Repetitive gameplay
– Story telling

Name: Project Cars 2

Developer: Slightly Mad Studios

Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment

Released: 22nd of September, 2017 (Worldwide)

Platforms: PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4

Reviewed on: PlayStation 4

 

As a fan of the first Project Cars, I was more than excited when I got my hands on the follow-up, could it live up to the expectations? Would it be adding enough new features? How would the driving feel be? With all this in mind, I sat down with my trusty PS4 and started my engine.

 

Graphics

First things first; this is the prettiest racing game I’ve ever played. The lighting is amazing, the cars look stunning, as does the environment. One thing that annoys me though is the (very) small edge over the windscreen (in some cars) that isn’t filled in with the shading from the sponsor logo. I also want to mention the “helmet camera” that lets you see from inside the helmet, it’s very cool, but the helmet has a bit of a rough edge. I know it’s very difficult to get round shapes completely smooth, but it would make the camera angle even more impressive especially if you have a VR headset. PSVR has yet to be confirmed other than a “We are seeing if we could make it work” from the developers. However, Project Cars 1 had support for Oculus Rift, so it seems likely that Project Cars 2 will have a VR-mode, at least on PC. With an improved outline inside the helmet, this camera angle plus VR will be a match made in heaven!

Gameplay

The gameplay is very good, but it’s not perfect. Some of the cars has a really weird feeling under braking, and some of them feels just a little bit too sensitive when you’re accelerating out of a corner, no matter how gentle I try to be.

 

The major complaint I have about the game is the career mode. I’m honestly not entirely sure what the exact problem I have with it is, because it feels both too open, and too restricted. I don’t feel the urge to win every single event, which I did in the first game, and that makes it a bit boring. On the plus side the career mode is much more complete than in the first game, with the dirt events (and cars) being a great addition, there’s more events happening through the career, as well as many more tracks and the fact that the invitational events are stuffed in a seperate folder, so you don’t have to play them again unless you really want to makes the game less nagging than its predecessor. I still feel like the career mode is a bit too focused on moving up the tiers each season, which meant I never got to feel like a car was really mine, and not just a step on the ladder, until I moved into the final tier.

 

Outside of the career the 180 cars you can drive lets you try out each circuit more times than you’ll probably ever need. And this is where I had the most fun with the game, be it in a (licensed) IndyCar or a “slow” Ford F-150, the feeling when you set a new personal best is amazing, and with all the tweaking allowed I kept feeling the need to try out what a tiny tweak could do with my lap times. In my mind the time trials is the game’s best side, I’ve been playing the time trials way more than I’d like to admit, but it just feels so damn rewarding when you put together the perfect lap.

Controls

As this is a simulator the possibilities to adjust all the controls to your liking is immense, even on PS4. And although it feels a bit overwhelming at first, it is an excellent feature that you can tweak pretty much everything. I played with a Dualshock 4 controller, which is less accurate than a wheel and pedals would have been. It will obviously be much more life-like controls if you have a wheel to play with, but during my time with the game I didn’t mind not having that at my disposal. Playing with a Dualshock feels very good, it would just have been even better controls with a wheel.