ccharliem

[ccharliem]

De ce nu imi plac jocurile Fallout

Atentie! In acest articol este vorba de jocurile Fallout moderne (Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4).

 Foarte multi oameni considera seria Fallout ca un sfant grail al gaming-ului si o serie ce imbina calitatea cu cantitatea in mod perfect. Nu si eu. Sincer, nu pot sa inteleg ce face aceasta franciza atat de exceptionala pentru jucatori.

Ceea ce urmeaza sa zic sunt pur si simplu parerile mele personale pentru care nu imi plac jocurile  Fallout 4.

Miscarea si controlul personajului mi se par greoaie. Mi se pare destul de greu si plictisitor sa parcurgi uneori jumatate de harta  doar pentru a ajunge la un obiectiv. Stiu ca poti folosi functia de Fast Travel, dar pana nu descoperi mai multe obiective ca sa ai unde da fast travel este in mare parte inutila. Iar cand ai unde da fast travel te lovesti de ecrane de incarcare, despre care discutam putin mai tarziu. Miscarea in nivel este de multe ori extrem de enervanta in timpul combatului, cand incerti sa te misti sau sa fugi si te blochezi in fiecare element din geometria nivelurilor. Fiecare scandura, creanga sau gramajoara de gunoi poate fi un obstacol fatal.

Pe console nu ai aim assistance. Argumentul acesta o sa il abordez din doua unghiuri. Mie, o persoana care joaca cam orice joc cu controller, mi s-a parut destul de greut fara sa am un ajutor suplimentar. As fi preferat ca daca tot nu ai aim assist, macar hitbox-urile sa fie putin mai permisive. Un prieten, care nu  este neaparat un impatimit al shooting-ului pe controller, a abandonat jocul dupa cateva ore pentru ca nu se simtea deloc bine jucand. Poate fanii hardcore ai serie si a shooter-elor la persoana I nu au fost deranjati de acest aspect, desi ma indoiesc.

Combat-ul si gunplay-ul. Daca tot am de combat si shooting, zic sa ramanem un pic pe aceasta linie. Mi se pare nesatisfacator. Nu simti nici un “feedback” atunci cand nimeresti un inamic, inafara de acel hitmark pe ecran. Chiar si cand omori un “boss” nu simti nici o satisfactie, nu simti ca ai realizat ceva important. Pentru mine, in Fallout 4 au fost 20 de ore de gameplay din care nu am avut nici o satisfactie. Pe langa ca a fost nesatisfacator, a fost si stresant. De cele mai multe ori nu vezi exact unde tintesti. Armele sunt foarte mari dar tinta de baza de pe ele este foarte mica si nu iti dai seama pe ce faci ADS. Iar la acest lucru se mai adauga si efectul de foc sau lumina laser pe care o produce arma cand tragi.

Design-ul nivelurilor. Aici este destul de scurt. Toate nivelurile sunt pline cu gunoaie, cauciucuri, usi de masina, crengi, caramizi etc. Toate aceste lucruri fac traversarea oraselor de cele mai multe ori un adevarat chin. Mai ales cand bara AP se termina atat de repede si se regenereaza destul de greu. Si mai frustrant este atunci cand coridoarele mai stramte ale cladirilor sunt pline de astfel de obiecte. Atunci e cu adevarat distractiv.

NPC-urile aliate. Aici nu este neaparat o plingere, ci o observatie. Ca in majoritatea jocurilor in care ai un companion, acesta iti va bloca de cele mai multe ori calea pentru ca se aseaza fix in usa sau sta intr-un mod in care nu te lasa sa treci. Acest lucru este putin mai deranjat cand esti intr-o cladire cu multe camere micute si vrei sa le explorezi pe toate.

Nivelurile de dificultate mi se pare inconsistente. Am inceput Fallout 4 pe dificultate normala, am jucat o perioada asa, iar apoi scazut pe easy, iar in ultima treime am scazut la very easy. Nu pot sa spun pe very easy jocul este chiar atat de usor. Sau pentru mine nu a fost. Iar teoretic, pe nivelul cel mai usor de dificultate jucatorul se asteapta la un combat oarecum “la misto”, fara sa isi bata prea tare capul cu inamicii.

Resurse si simtemul de loot. Poate ca nivelul de dificultate la mine a fost influentat si de faptul ca eu nicioadata nu aveam munitie. Foloseam arme diverse care cereau tipuri diferite de munitie si cu toate acestea, nu aveam niciodata. Munitia se gaseste destul de des, dar in cantitati mici, iar de cumparat este destul de scumpa. Nu prea puteam sa strang foarte multe lucruri de pe jos pentru a le vinde, deoarece mereu mi se umplea inventarul instant. Si culmea, nu tineam mai multe seturi de armuri si pastream doar acele cateva arme pe care chiar le foloseam. Spre finalul jocului am inceput sa am probleme si cu obiectele pentru HP. Stimpak-urile apareau din ce in ce mai rar, iar de cumparat nu aveam bani. Iar alte lucruri care sa imi regenereze viata erau in mare parte degeaba.

Partea tehnica este problematica in unele parti. Din punct de vedere artistic, jocul nu mi se pare ca arata extraordinar, dar tehnic arata foarte bine. Armele sunt detaliate, orasele si casele la fel. Harta jocului nu este complet deschisa. Pentru a intra in unele cladiri sau in unele baza ale diferitelor factiuni ai nevoie sa treci printr-un ecran de incarcare, care atunci cand iesi dintr-un loc dureaza si mai mult. Avem jocuri open-world mai dechise si ma arunc sa zic si mai complexe (Far Cry 4, Dragon Age Inquisition, The Witcher 3) in care performanta nu este o problema. Pe cand in Fallout 4 in orasele un pic mai maricele FPS-ul scade sub 30.

Ecranele de incarcare. Daca tot am deschis subiectul tehnic o sa vorbesc si despre aceste minunate ecrane de incarcare. La inceputul jocului sunt mai rare, dai de ele doar cand intri intr-o cladire mai importanta sau intr-un oras cum e Diamond City. Dar dupa jumatate, cand deja ai cateva zone deblocate si chiar ai unde sa dai fast-travel te vor enerva, pentru ca dureaza si destul de mult. Sunt momente cand dai fast travel intr-un loc, loading screen, imediat intri intr-o cladire, alt loading screen. Nu poti sa dai direct fast travel cand esti in unele locuri, trebuie sa te duci afara (loading screen) si apoi sa dai fast travel (alt loading screen). Poate pentru unii oameni nu este atat de deranjant, dar pentru mine a fost.

 Cam acestea sunt probleme mele cu seria Fallout. Am incercat sa joc Fallout 3 si New Vegas, iar Fallout 4 eram aproape sa il termin (mai aveam 2-3 misiuni), dar am cedat nervos. Am zis ca nu merita.

20 de ore de gameplay in Fallout 4 mi s-au parut efectiv obositoare si nesatisfacatoare. Si nu pot sa zic ca ma feresc de provocari. Am reusit sa obtin trofeul Platinum la Bloodborne, unde chiar am avut o satisfactie dupa fiecare boss fight.

Poate unor oameni chiar le place modelul Fallout, dar pentu mine o sa ramana o seria de care nu cred ca o sa ma mai ating vreodata.

[ccharliem]

Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 Review(sort of)

Developer: CI Games

Publisher: CI Games

Played on: PC

Available: PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One

Release Date: April 25, 2017

 One day, out of boredom, I decided that I wanted to play a game that didn’t require much thinking, something easy. A game neither good nor bad. Something average. And I came across Sniper Ghost Warrior 3. I wasn’t expecting anything from this game. I played the first one and I never touched the second one. So I said: Why not give this one a shot? (Just like our protagonist, Jon)

I jumped into the game only to find two brothers bickering and teasing each other, something I am certain you don’t do during an infiltration mission. But I’m not a professional sniper so won’t judge. The plot is actually pretty simple. You and your brother are sent into mission that serves prologue/tutorial for you, the player, and at the end of the mission the evil bad guy kidnaps your brother and you miraculously survive, only with the desire of finding your beloved sibling.

*SPOILERS* I’m definitely not finishing this game but from what I suspect you will find out that your brother went rogue and sided with the ‘baddies’ and you will execute him for the welfare of Georgia. Just guessing.

My first approximately 3 hours were nothing but frame-rate drops. CONSTANT fps drops. When you are aiming down the sights, when you change your weapon, when you are walking… At first I thought that my pc is getting older, but then I lowered everything, quite literally everything. There was no nothing higher than low or off. Nothing seemed to work.

But then I gladly told myself: “Those hours necessary to complete this game I can now spend doing something, I don’t know, fun. Or more enjoyable at least.”

I just can’t find something positive about this game. Most of the things are average or just down-right mediocre.

Every time you start a new mission you have to go to your hideout. This hideout of yours has 4 things you can interact with: your bed (which seems more useless than not), your laptop (the godly mission-giver), a workbench and a weapon stash. And having the last 3 separate is absolutely pointless. There’s no need to go to each one. You can just go to one of them and then switch the tab. But I’m not a game designer either.

Every objective is approachable in multiple ways, so that’s a pro.

Weapons are varied, but most of them are just pointless because most of them are weak so there’s no reason to buy them. You can craft some items like medkits, different types of bullets, grenades using the resources you gather scavenging throughout the level or just completing a mission. Your choice.

The A.I. is actually not that predictable because you never know if your enemies see you or not. Sometimes they will not see you when are in front of them and other times they will sound the alarm because they thought they heard something crawling. Trough 3 walls and 500 meters away. So you have some diversity here and there.

Nearly three hours spent playing this game and there’s nothing that would keep me hooked. The gameplay is shallow. The plot is weak and fairly predictable, as opposed to the A.I.

Overall, I really think we have a new definition of mediocracy. Nothing is actually that bad, but nothing is not even above average

Final note – 4.6/10 Mediocre

[ccharliem]

Battlefront 2 Beta - Impressions

Developed by: DICE, Criterion,Motive

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Played on: PC, Xbox One

Available (will be): PC, Xbox One, Playstation 4

Release date: November 17, 2017

 Now that I got the chance to try the sequel of the 2015 Star Wars Battlefront and now it’s time for me to lay my thoughts on piece of… pixels.

The Battlefront game from two years ago had the good idea of resurrecting the game that died twelve years ago and it did, but the end result was a shallow experience lacking content and failing to keep the players hooked up for a longer period of time. But the fact that it got a sequel means there is potential and trust me, this one shows that somebody learned a lot from their previous mistakes.

This year’s Battlefront 2 is a down-right improvement over its predecessor. Let’s take out the technical part first. The game looks gorgeous. Every visual effect is well placed and really defined. There was obviously a lot of meticulous effort put in the visuals of the game, and it’s hands down of the best looking games this year. The buildings and all the textures a detailed. So there’s downside here.

Being a direct licensed game, all the sound effects that made the Star Wars franchise popular are all here. Every sound the Starfighters make, the sounds that the gun make when shot, the droids voices, everything is top-notch. So nothing to comment here either.

Now let’s dig in the content, because this was the real problem with the previous game. First of all, this one will feature a full-fledged campaign mode at launch that is going to tell “an untold story in the Star Wars universe”, or so the producers say. I don’t know about anybody, but I am really curious about it. In the game you are given a teaser trailer with an interesting appearance of a certain character *wink-wink*.

In this beta you were a given 3 modes to play: Galactic Assault, Starfighter Assault, Strike and Arcade, but let’s take on by the one.

The Galactic Assault is mode where 20 clones fight against 20 droids and everything happens is a defined scenario. All the action takes place with droids making their way into the Royal Palace and the clones trying to repel their attack.  As a clone you have to use these Ion Disruptors that are found throughout the map and use it to the damage the enemy transport ship, if you fail and the droids gain access into the palace, then they need to disable the security systems and after that capture the throne room. I personally found this mode fairly interesting and I’m curious to see what new maps and scenarios they add in the full game.

The next one, Starfighter Assault, is another scenario-based mode where you get to be the pilot of either Tie/in Fighter or a rebel ship. The controls seem clunky at first, but after a while you get used to them and you will manage to pull some impressive moves resembling the one in the movies. So my dream finally came true, I got to pilot a Tie Fighter.

Strike is another PVP mode where the clones must capture a package and get it to the extraction point while avoiding the defense of the rebel alliance. Pretty basic, nothing too complicated, but overall enjoyable.

The last one, Arcade, is a series of sub-modes where either you alone or with another friend can fight against hordes of enemies. In these challenges you can also choose to fight as iconic dark side characters (in the full game you will be able to also play as the light side).

It should come as no surprise that now that the loot box/crates system is extremely popular, EA will try to make more profit out of their 60$ game. Of course you have loot crates in this game. Were you expecting EA to be totally against this system? NO WAY. As soon as people found out about this, everyone yelled that this is going to be pay-to-win or whatnot. Well… it’s not like that. Sort of. Basically, you get those credits by playing the game and the amount that you get at the end of the match can vary. On a galactic assault it can be from 150 to 200, depending on how well you did in that match.

You have three different types of crates that you can buy: the Starfighter crate, which offers a Starfighter card and two mystery items; the trooper crate, which offers a trooper card and two mystery items and the Allegiance crate, which offers a hero card and two mystery items. The Allegiance one costs 1,000 credits and the other two cost 1,100 credits. You can also get credits by completing different challenges (Get 20 kills with the assault class; Play a total of 10 minutes with the specialist class and so on), and you can also earn credits by completing the arcade missions.

The weapons and their ‘mods’ can be obtained either by dropping in a crate or you can craft them using ‘Crafting parts’ that also come in those crates (you can also get mods for the weapons in those crates).

The Star card system is something comparable with the runes in RPG games. You basically get a star card from a crate and then equip it to a specific class or hero/villain. These cards can either add a beneficial effect to the player or can replace an ability, for example replacing a regular grenade with an Ion grenade. Those cards will come in different rarities and their effect will be increased depending of this rarity. They can also be upgraded using crafting parts.

In my experience those cards didn’t make the game dreadful nor did it inspire me the idea of pay-to-win. Sure, it’s an important of the gameplay and in the end, the one with more money will have the better equipment, but I doubt the game will become unplayable because of that.

As a verdict, my overall experience was very pleasant and I’m personally looking forward to seeing what they have in store for us campaign wise. If we get like a 6 to 8 hours single-player story along with the multi-player component I definitely suggest this as a strong pick-up and a must-play for every Star Wars fan that wishes to pilot a Space ship.

Hopefully for the people that enjoy those kinds of experiences, they will offer support for VR Headsets, you know… so you can actually be in the cockpit of those ships.

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[ccharliem]

Overwatch Experiences

               What is the point in just going for a competitive match in Overwatch and outright ruin that match for you, your friend (premade) and four other players who are simply trying to rank up and have a good time?

               Instead of just picking a support, you chose a Hanzo on attack. Everyone thinks that playing the support it’s bottom line demeaning: “I haven’t got that low to play support. What am I? Stupid?”

               What is the “fun” in doing such things, it is beyond me. More sadistic is the fact that they both entered the voice channel and they didn’t care about us asking to switch for something more appropriate for that situation. They listened to us the whole game literally just complaining about their stubbornness and their total lack of interest when it comes to teamwork.

               I regret this from the bottom of my heart, because a love Overwatch. It’s such a fascinating game with deep mechanics, interesting characters and sometimes, more often than not, nice people to share that experience. I’m not going to lie, I met some wonderful people during my games, but every time I manage to climb up a little bit comes a constant lose streak and the so called “trolls”.

               From my personal point of view, Overwatch can no longer be played “for fun”. People usually go into Quickplay just to warm up or learn to play other characters for competitive. In the Arcade hub players only go when the Loot Box ‘thingy’ resets every week. It’s very hard to have a good time when everybody is so ‘try-hard’ and they are one-trick-ponies. And the ones that play only one or two heroes, they sometimes do it very poorly.

               I do not recommend anyone getting anyone to get into Overwatch, unless they are willing to invest lots of hours of experimenting with very different people and different attitudes. Nerves of steel are HIGHLY recommended.

[ccharliem]

Tales of Berseria Review

Tales of Berseria, a far prequel for the the previous installement in the Tales of series, Zestiria, cam le with some surprises and a unique charm for a person that doesn,t really tastes the flavour of the jrpg genre. I was quite interested in this particular types of games, but Berseria managed to change that.

Jumping in the game with a sort of skeptisicm, by the time I hit the 2 hours mark I was completely mesmerized by the story and sure that actually want to discover what the game hides. While the combat is pretty strong, the story and characters is what convinced me that I want to the credits roll.

Let’s start with the combat. The action combat stays in Berseria and it offers some diversity at first but becomes repetitive fairly easily. You mainly use the face buttons to perform artes, which are badically attacks. Those artes require Souls in order to be used and the souls gauge can be filled by stunning your foes or killing them, however if you get stunned you lose on soul. You can have a maximum of 5 souls. When you manage to get a chain attack you can activate a Mystic Arte which brings up cutscene and a character performing some heavy attacks on one target. There is block button LB/L1, that requires of some mastery for the user. Blocking works only if hold it down before the enemy enters the attack animation and that is most unlikely to happen. If an enemy atacks you once and you don’t block you’re most likely to get a full-burs of attacks and lose souls for certain. The block button works as a dodge if you hold it down and swing the left stick in the direction you want to dodge.

In combat you take 4 allies at one and you can choose to fight with whoever you like. The party will have 6 characters at most and the player decides who fights and who plays the sub-characters. The player can swap between the the character that entered the combat with and the two sub-characters at the cost of of 1 BG per swap.

I myself took most of the fights or the first 10 to 12 hours, but I after that I got somewhat bored and avoided the non-mandatory encounters, but not all of them.

Now that I listed  what the combat offered me, let’s take on the part that probably will enrupter most of the players, the story and characters. The characters in your party are diametrically different and keep going onwards for different reasons. Velvet Crowe, a vengeful daemon willing to step on corpses in order to get revenge on Artorius. Rokurou Rangetsu, a daemon that wants to repay Velvet for freeing him from the prison and determined to become powerful enough to take down his brother Shigure. Eizen, a malak possessing the Reaper’s Curse which brings misfortune to everyone around him. Despite this aspect, no one has any problems with Eizen staying around. He is also very knowledgeable about most of the things in the world. Eleanor, a praetor exorcist that is bound to Velvet’s orders after losing a duel. She also serves as a vessel for Laphicet, a malak saved by Velvet from a high-rank exorcist that considered all malakhims to be only tools. After “joining” the group he learnes how to be more ‘human’ and is tought a lot of facts about life, even about girls. And last but not least, Magilou or Magillanica Lou Mayvin, a goofy witch that sticks with the group for no reason or she says. She controls a normin malak called Bienfu and she also uses phrases like: “Magikazam..!!”

All those characters that fight for their own reasons, they all start to get along at some point and while they have some ups and downs they keep together until the very end. They all learn from each other, Laphicet teaches Velvet that she doesn’t need to be cold and kill everything in her way, she also posses some empathy and compassion. They also have some entertaining  moments, for example when Eizen And Rokurou tell Laphicet about girls and the three girls get offended by some statements and get into arguments, or the time they go to a bath house and the girls bodies are swapped with the boys.

Although very different they all need each other, they lift each other up, they joke together, they fight together, they plan things together, they all act as a team. And they all fight for one common purpose, taking down the Abbey. The Abbey is the organization of exorcists trained to keep the daemon spreading in check.

The main plot Is based around Velvet desiring vengeance against Artorius, her brother-in-law, for doing something excruciating. The story is a very delicate subject, because anything I say could be a potential spoiler. A lot of crucial pieces are not revealed until very late in the game. For the first 21-23 hours the pieces of the story don’t really fit together, all you know is that is mostly about vengeance, but after you are given some flashbacks from the past, everything makes sense, the motive behind most of things is unveiled and you can understand why some of the characters are how they are today.

All the action takes place in a world where after the events of the Scarlet Night people started to be infected with the Demonblight, a sort of virus that would cause people to transform into daemons. These daemons could have only been fought by exorcists and at the time, very few. After roughly seven years from that moment another Scarlet Night occurred. This one made the demonblight stronger and allowed malaks to be seen by regular humans. That night Arthur (Artorius) sacrificed Velvet’s most beloved thing in the world, her brother Laphicet. This is why Velvet is so determined to kill her brother-in-law.  After that night Arthur imprisoned Velvet on a prison island called Titania where hundreds of other daemons where held. After escaping and teaming up with all the others they discover the Abbey’s plans of “cleansing” the world of sins, but what they want to do is not actually cleansing. I’m not going to say anything more about the story because everything I say from here on, quite literally, will be a spoiler for the player.

As a verdict I would say that despite the repetitive combat, Tales of Berseria is an experience worth picking up, even for the players that don’t appreciate the jrpg genre. If you don’t enjoy the fights all that much you can always decrease the combat difficulty and avoid most of the fights, focusing on the story. It’s really nice to see a group of different races starting together with different goals and by the end, one by one achieving those goals and saving the humanity.

Final score - 9 out of 10

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[ccharliem]

Prey Demo – Hands-on Impressions

           As I’ve never played the original Prey, I went on and played this demo completely neutral, hoping to find a game worth my time and money, but now I’m asking my self if it really is.

           The player takes control of Morgan Yu, a human living on a space station filled with hostile aliens. This demo gives you the opportunity to play the first hour, so start as the first day of Morgan’s Life in this facility. While you take some mandatory tests for your enrollment, things go south and those so called ‘mimics’ make their way on the station. Those mimics are alien creatures that take form of regular objects like chairs, mugs or boxes and reveal their true form once you get close enough. Needless to say that they actually attack you. The first weapon you get is a wrench, which is good enough if don’t have too many mimics against you. Then you get yourself a GLOO Cannon that helps you render your foes unable to move, but that’s only temporarily, the gun itself is really close-range and you have to hit the enemy at least twice in order for the gloo to have any effect. Regular weapons like pistols can be used in this game. You can also throw objects at your enemies and deal damage, but certain objects that are heavier require special upgrades in order to be able to lift them.

           Speaking of upgrades, some people may find the upgrade system familiar. In this aspect Prey borrows heavily from Dishonored 2 (Not that this is a bad thing). You collect those ‘Neuromods’ that can be found by simply exploring the levels and then spent on three different trees: Security, Engineer and Scientist. All of them give Morgan advantages that he will very much need so that he may be able to exterminate those aliens.            The upgrade system is not the only element that Prey is borrowing from Dishonored. Having Arkane Studios at the wheel of this game also gave Prey a similar interface to the aforementioned game. The menus and the UI all together have been retouched to fit with the Prey’s identity, but at their cores, it the all the same, which again, is not a bad thing at all.

           The character movement and the way this game looks and feels, all reminded me of Dishonored 2. Some people may like it, some people may not. But for me, I’m somewhere in the middle. I don’t actually mind it, but I don’t know if I like it all that much.

           From a technical standpoint this demo offers us a good glimpse at the full game, but some issues may be solved by the time hits the market. The game runs at 900p and 30 frames-per-second on Xbox One with some frame rate dips here and there, but nothing to make your experience unbearable. Though, you might have a better experience on the Playstation 4, as it looks a bit better.

           The game is most of the times pretty sense. As you move from room to room, from lab to lab in that station, you never actually know where the enemies might hide. The only place I actually felt safe was Morgan’s office, and even that room had some ways where the mimics could have entered. When you get close to the mimics and they emerge from their object form you don’t really get scared by the action itself, so much as the music and the effect that it does. The moment the mimics transform, the music just bursts in will actually continue some time after you finished the fight. I found the music a little bit annoying at times, but I think I can get past that after a while.

           As a verdict, for me personally the game is ‘so-so’. After playing the demo I still don’t know if the game is worth picking up. The story seems intriguing, but there’s something about this game that just doesn’t ‘click’ for me.

[ccharliem]

Watch_Dogs 2 - Review [RO]

               Dupa primul Watch Dogs, un nou inceput ce permitea jucatorului sa se plimbe nestingherit pe strazile din Chicago, in pielea lui Aiden Pearce, avand asupra sa un telefon ce putea fi folosit pentru a hack-ui obiecte si sisteme electrice inconjuratoare, ajungem in San Francisco, alaturi de Marcus Holloway. Acesta adera la un grup de hacker numit DedSec, impreuna incercand sa lupte pentru drepturile oamenilor, ce au fost incalcate de Blume, compania responsabile pentru ctOS 2.0 (central Operating System 2.0).

               Odata intrat in DedSec, Marcus se imprieteneste rapid cu cei din grup, Sitara, Wrench, Josh si Horatio. Unde conversatiile dintre acestia nu sunt despre misiuni sau diferite obiective, sunt constituite din diferite dialoguri absurd, glume, discutii despre diferite filme, etc. Referintele asupra filmelor nu sunt deloc subtile, iar dialogurile dintre membrii DedSec sunt de cele mai multe ori haioase si deloc enervante.

               Acest grup poate parea destul de stereotipic. Avem noul venit in grup, fata rebela(Sitara), “tocilarul” (Josh), geniul neinteles (Wrench) si… Horatio.

               Orasul San Francisco din joc nu este realizat 1:1, dar este foarte bine detaliat, destul de mare si complet deschis explorarii (San Francisco, Oakland, Silicon Valley). Jocul iti da posibilitatea sa folosesti functia de Fast Travel pe arpoape orice iconita de pe harta, dar personal nu prea am folosit-o. Am preferat de fiecare data sa gasesc o masina mai speciala si sa privesc toata harta de la volanul acesteia.

               Continutul pe care Watch Dogs 2 il pune la dispozitia jucatorului este destul de divers. Pe langa misiunile de poveste, care sunt destul de cuprinzatoare, mai ai destul de multe misiuni secundare, ce te ajuta in obtinerea urmaritorilor si a fanilor grupului DedSec. Odata ce creste numarul de urmaritori, creste si experienta si nivelul jucatorului, progres rasplatit prin puncte de upgrade. Prin oras mai sunt si diverse activitati cum ar fi:  curse de masini, curse de barci, curse de drone, curse de motociclete si curse de eKart-uri. Cei care vor sa primeasca cat mai mult din ce are de oferit Watch Dogs 2 se vor bucura de aceste activitati secundare, intrucat acestea pot fi distractive, dar cei ce cauta doar povestea si nu vor sa fie deranjati de la misiunile de poveste pot sa linistiti, deoarece misiunile secundare nu sunt intruzive si nu sunt obligatorii pentru a progresa in poveste.

               Vorbind de progres si puncte de upgrade. Jocul ofera o paleta de larga de optiuni si abilitati ce pot ajuta jucatorul sa foloseasca un stil de joc pe care il prefera. Categoriile de abilitati se impart in City Disruption, Botnets, Remote CTRL, Social Engineering, Tinkering, Vehicle Hacking si Marksmanship. Pentru a debloca unele abilitati trebuie sa gasesti anumite “Key Data”, ascunse in tot orasul.

               Arsenalul lui Marcus este alcatuit in prima faza dintr-un pistol cu electrosocuri si un pistol normal, urmand ca apoi jucatorul sa isi aleaga sa foloseasca diferite arme de foc, realizate cu ajutorul unei imprimante 3D si dupa cateva upgrade-uri si bombe actionate cu ajutorul smartphone-ului lui Marcus. Drona (Quadcopter) si o masinuta controlata de la distanta (Jumper) sunt doua unelte ce permit jucatorului sa studieze mediul in care are loc o misiune, sa isi monitorizeze inamicii, permit accesul in zone mai putin accesibile lui Marcus, dar pot de asemenea sa fie folosite pentru a hackui un anumit obiectiv. NetHack este un mod prin care jucatorul poate vedea prin pereti, la o anumita distanta, unde se afla inamicii, sunt evidentiate obiectele cu care poti interactiona, iar acest mod poate fi folosit atat de Marcus, cat si de drone sau masinuta sa.

               Se recomanda abordare stealth! Personal am avut foarte multe problem odata ce am fost detectat in timpul unei misiuni, iar toti gardienii veneau sa ma vaneze. Mediile in care au loc misiunile sunt destul de deschise si cu mai multe cai de acces, ceea ce fac confruntarile directe cu arme de foc, foarte dificile. Dupa ce esti detectat inamicii par mai multi decat ai crezut tu in prima faza, e drept ca de multe ori mai sunt chemate si intariri, dar chiar si fara intariri luptele impotriva gardienilor sunt un adevarat chin. Odata ce inamicii sunt complet constienti de prezenta ta si vin sa te vaneze, actiunea se desfasoara cam asa: scoti arma, te pui in cover, iesi din cover pentru a omora un inamic, esti ranit, astepti sa ti se regenereze viata, iar cat astepti vulnerabil mai multi inamici vor avansa spre tine cu arma in mana, tie fiinduti imposibil sa ripostezi. Nu exista nici un mod a te apara, de ati creste nivelul de viata, nu poti avea nici macar o vesta anti-glont. Confruntarile agresive se sfarsesc de cele mai multe ori cu moartea personajului si incarcarea ultimului checkpoint.

               Daca alegi insa sa joci stealth, poate fi si foarte satisfacator si amuzant de cele mai multe ori. Tu poti sta ascuns undeva mai in departare si sa controlezi camerele de supraveghere din care poti scurtcircuita un panou de curent, poti controla masinile astfel incat sa calce inamicii, la un anumit punct poti chiar sa chemi benzi de infractori rivale pentru a se duela intre ei, fara ca tu sa iti murdaresti mainile.

 VERDICT

               Sunt doua neajunsuri care mie mi-au sarit in ochi. Faptul ca nu ai nici o modalitate defensiva in confruntarile directe si Marcus Holloway care este un baiat foarte “de gasca”, cu toate ca el poate omoara zeci, poate chiar cateva sute de oameni. El nu pare sa aiba vreo problema cu acest lucru. Dupa ce termina cu impuscatul si se intoarce la colegii sai, e de parca nimic rau nu s-ar fi intamplat. Pe scurt, Marcus pare un baiat mult prea dragut ca sa omoare oameni.

               In afara de aceste doua lucruri, nu am gasit probleme majore cu Watch Dogs 2. Personajele si povestea sunt conturate bine. Hacking-ul este bun. Orasul arata foarte bine. Este un joc foarte placut, iar cei ce nu au agreat primul Watch Dogs nu ar trebuii sa renege continuare, deoarece este un pas inainte, demn de luat in seama.

                 Nota finala – 8.5/10

[ccharliem]

Shadow Warrior 2 – Review

Testat pe PC

Disponibil pe PC, Consoles (Early 2017)

Publicat de Devolver Digital

Dezvoltat de Flying Wild Hog

             Atunci cand un scenariu foarte bine scris se intalneste cu un gameplay bine pus la punct, impreuna reactioneaza si formeaza Shadow Warrior 2, dar in aceasta reactie se alatura si sistemul looting din Borderlands.

           Lo Wang isi i-a inca odata din timpul său liber pentru a fi protagonistul unui nou titlu din seria Shadow Warrior.

           Umorul jocului este unul din elementele pe care le vei remarca chiar de la inceputul jocului. Cei care apreciaza umorul in stil Deadpool, cu siguranta vor gasi si replicile din noul Shadow Warrior la fel de bune.

           S-ar putea sa vă surprindă, dar in spatele actiuni violente si a umorului bazat pe glume despre penis, jocul chiar are o poveste cat de cat decenta. Sufletul unei fete este prins inauntrul corpului lui Lo Wang in urma unor intamplari, acestia 2 fiind capabili sa comunice telepatic, iar fiecare discutie telepatica intre cei doi se lasa cu harjoneala si insulte aduse la adresa celuilalt. Dealungul jocului relatia dintre cei doi evolueaza cu fiecare extraterestru feliat in bucati, iar pana la final ajung sa fie oarecum amici.

           In esenta, povestea este doar o scuza pentru ca Lo Wang sa fie trimis prin diferite locuri unde trebuie sa decimeze hoarde intregi de monstrii veniti din alta lume. Shadow Warrior 2 poate fi asemanat cu DOOM(2016), din punct de vedere al gameplay-ului rapid, dar adevarul este ca Shadow Warrior este mult mai rapid odata ce incepi sa iti imbunatatesti cateva abilitati si dupa ce activezi cateva rune. Arsenalul lui Lo Wang este destul de vast, acesta putand folosi de la pistoale, la aruncatoare de rachete si desigur, nelipsita katana. Fiecare arma are la dispozitie 3 slot-uri in care jucatorul poate pune orice rune crede de cuviinta. Aceste rune ofera fie stats-uri fizice, dar si damage bazat pe puteri elementale (foc, fulger,gheata si toxic). Gameplay frenetic este foarte satisfacator si foarte placut vizual atunci elimini o secventa intreaga folosindute doar de sabie.

           Sistemul de loot ofera posibilitatea jucatorului de a folosi un stil de lupta dupa bunul plac, desi uneori este putin enervant. De cele mai mult ori te vei gasi scroll-ind prin zecile de rune pe care le ai in inventar in scopul de a vedea daca poti gasi ceva mai bun pentru una din armele tale.

           Personal, nu cred ca am avut vreodata nevoie sa cumpar ceva de la vreun shop, pe tot parcursul jocului. Munitia se gaseste la discretie, rune la tot pasul, arme noi primite ca drop de la un inamic sau la final de misiune. Nu exista un motiv pentru care TREBUIE sa mergi la un magazin, dar daca o faci poate gasesti o anumita runa care iti face cu ochiul sau o abilitate noua si crezi ca iti este folositoare.

           Fata de predecesorul sau din 2013, Shadow Warrior 2 ofera un gameplay mult mai deschis, cu spatii mult mult mai largi si non-liniar, ceea ce este o schimbare binevenita. Pe langa toate acestea, iti da si posibiliatatea de a chema alaturi inca 3 jucatori pentru taia impreuna monstrii.

           Am spus cumva gameplay non-liniar? Corect! Jocul iti da acum si posibiliatatea de a efectua si cateva misiuni secundare in cazul in care vrei sa primesti o experienta mai lunga sau sa farmezi rune in cautarea arsenalului perfect. Shadow Warrior 2 ofera celor vor sta sa completeze toate misiunile inchluzandu-le si pe cele secundare o durata de 13-15 ore, iar ce se vor focusa pe misiunile de poveste vor primi undeva pe la 7-8 ore de gameplay.

           Muzica jocului este absolut superba si se imbina perfect cu combatul pentru a mentine atmosfera rapida si ofera suficienta adrenalina pentru fiecare confruntare.

           Inamicii cu care te vei confrunta pe parcursul jocului, pot parea oarecum diferiti la inceput, dar pe parcurs acestia se vor repeta destul de des. Minibossii sunt cei ce vor oferi o provocare ceva mai grea. Acestia sunt usor de identificat. Sunt mai mari, iar bara lor de viata este mai mare si mai colorata decat a restul inamicilor.

           Verdictul

           Merita jucat Shadow Warrior 2? Daca cauti un gameplay action-packed cu putin Borderlands sau Diablo, absolut!

           Shadow Warrior 2 este foarte distractiv, fiecare taietura de sabie este satisfacatoare, iar eu personal nu am intalnit probleme tehnice majore, poate cateva mici frame-drop-uri in secventele mai pline de inamici, dar in rest jocul sa comportat foarte bine.

Nota finala 9/10

[ccharliem]

Rise of the Tomb Raider – Review

Developer: Crystal Dynamics Publisher: Square Enix Available on: Xbox One, Xbox 360, Playstation 4 and PC Release date: November 10, 2015 (Originally) Tested on: PC Contains microtransactions After a few unsuccessful attempts of reinvigorating the Tomb Raider name, the 2013 reboot managed to offer Crystal Dynamics an bonus life and they really held on to it, proven with the new Rise of The Tomb Raider. Lara’s adventure from 2013 delivered a very solid game and its sequel only brings that with some improvements here and there. After her last adventure, Lara decided that is time to make a change. To be more confident. So she said to herself: “I’m going to stop whining with every occasion and I’m going to stop yelling “SAM! SAM!” , all day long!” . That’s right! She is not that whiny this time around. She is somewhat more “manlier” in way and that’s good for her. But that doesn't mean you will not hear several screams after falling from very high places. It's a ceasy thing to say that if you liked the previous game you will like this one too, but you will! Maybe even more.. or less; that really depends on you doesn't it? Rise of The Tomb Raider is set to take place one year after the dangerous events of Yumatai. Here Lara is searching for a mysterious artifact, the Divine Source, which she is really keen on finding only to prove that her father wasn’t suffering of any mental disorders and his obsessions were actually leading somewhere. To make him justice! Halfway through the adventure Lara finds out something baleful about her family that she couldn’t ever imagine. As with the previous game, we have the evil counter part searching for the Divine Source, called Trinity, and they believe their doing God’s work, but the only thing that they do for real is putting a spoke in your wheel, only so they can get their hands on the artifact for their own selfish purpose. The crafting mechanic si a new component of Rise of the Tomb Raider. In this game arrows, being them flaming, poisonous, explosive or even regular arrows, need to be crafted. Regular arrows are also commonly found virtually everywhere and you can also loot them from the enemies you have taken down. You can craft bombs out of bottles, cans or gas canisters found in the environment and different materials, depending on the bomb you want to craft (smoke bombs, incendiaries and explosive). Lara's loadout consists in a bow, an automatic rifle, a pistol and a shotgun. If you find the all the weapon parts you can also get different variations for each type of weapon. For example, instead of a rifle you can use an SMG, instead of a regular auto-pistol you can use a revolver and you can also use different bows depending on your preferences. If you make an upgrade, that upgrade applies to all the weapons in that class. You can now buy some few weapons are different accesories for them from a shady guy for gold pieces. The skill upgrade system is basically the same. You kill people or discover different objects that reward with XP. You level up. You gain a skill point. And then you use it to get a skill. And you also have three skill branches: Brawler, Hunter and Survivor. Pretty simple, isn't it? I know that people complained about the optional tombs in the previous game, personally I wasn't interested in doing them in 2013 and I am not interested in doing them a couple of years later either. But I heard they have been fixed. Lara's movement has been improved. The movement is more fluid which makes this game feel very smooth and responsive. Lara now automatically crouches and takes cover when enemies are near and the animations while jumping and climbing are beautifully realised. Throughout my experience, I never had any major technical problems with the game. I played Rise on PC, and not on the world's strongest machine, on a mid-end, but capable PC. The only major problem was the sequence at the end of game, which I assume it was more technically demanding, because the fps went down a bit. But nothing to make it unplayable. The game has some very welcome small touches like when Lara adjusts her hair after getting out of the water or stumbling after a high fall. Also the sprinting sequences where Lara speeds through chaotic scenes of destruction are breathtakingly crafted. The sound in this game isn't amazing by any means, but it's well made. All in all, a gripping story, despite it's cliches, a very good gameplay together make in such a way that the new Rise of the Tomb Raider a fine sequel, worth taking your time and your money without being sad about investing either one of them. Final Verdict - 8/10

[ccharliem]

5 Jocuri noi prin programul Backwards Compatibility

Microsoft a adaugat recent inca cinci jocuri pe lista de mai mult de doua sute de jocuri care sunt disponibile prin serviciul Backwards Compatibility. Acest serviciu permite rularea jocurilor de Xbox 360 printr-un emulator. Pentru a putea face asta trebuie sa introduceti disc-ul in Xbox One, dupa care veti fi intampinati de un mesaj care va informeaza ca se downloada un update, dar este defapt jocul in sine. Dupa terminarea download-ului va veti putea jocul exact ca si pe Xbox 360. Unele jocuri pot rula mai bine sau mai prost, dar nu este o regula pentru toate jocurile, majoritatea ruleaza exact ca pe consola de generatie mai veche. Pentru a aceste jocuri trebuie fie sa le rulati cu respectivul disc in consola, fie puteti sa le cumparati de Store.

Jocurile nou adaugate sunt Bayonetta, de Blob 2, Arkanoid Live, Of Orcs and Men si QIX++, cu mentiunea ca Of Orcs and Men nu este disponibil in toate regiunile, iar Statele Unite intra in aceasta oala.

Daca deja detineti aceste jocuri in versiune digitala, puteti sa le downloadati fara probleme.

Preturile pentru aceste jocuri sunt:

Arkanoid     Live ($10)

Bayonetta ($20)

de     Blob 2 ($20)

QIX++ ($10)

Odata cu lansarea acestora sunt disponibile mai mult de 230 de jocuri. Daca aveti un Xbox One si nu a-ti avut Xbox 360 inainte, aveti acum ocazia de a juca foarte mult titluri din generatia trecuta.

Lista complete cu jocuri Backwards Compatible

[ccharliem]

Bioshock The Collection - Cerinte de sistem

Mult asteptata trilogie a celor de la Irrational Games v-a ajunge in curand pe piata si cu aceasta ocazie 2K a dezvaluit cerintele de sistem pentru varianta de PC si de asemenea modul in care cei ce detineau deja variantele originale ale lui Bioshock si ale lui Bioshock 2.

Cei ce au cumparat Bioshock 1 si 2 de pe Steam, vor avea pur si simplu in lista de Steam versiunea Remastered complet downloadabila in ziua lansarii. Lucrurile sunt putin mai complicate pentru cei ce detin varianta de Games for Windows Live a jocurilor mai sus amintite. Pentru a primi varianta Remastered a originalului BioShock trebuie sa trimiteti un mesaj catre 2K Support in care sa prezentati un email de confirmare, codul de Games for Windows Live sau o alta modalitate de a dovedi faptul ca detineti jocul.

Cei ce detin varianta de Games for Windows Live a lui Bioshock 2 nu trebuie sa isi bata capul cu astfel de probleme. Doar luati cheia jocului si activati-l pe Steam.

Daca doriti sa jucati varianta original a acestor jocuri nu trebuie sa va ingrijorati, variantele Remastered vor aparea separat in librarie de jocuri.

BioShock Infinite nu este inclus in versiune Remastered de PC, deoarece „deja corespunde cu standardele next-gen de pe console si ruleaza foarte bine pe setari inalte.”

Spatiu total de stocare necesar:

BioShock : 25 GB

Bioshock 2 : 25 GB

Bioshock Infinite : 20 GB

Pentru toate cele trei : 70 GB

               Cerinte de sistem minime:

             Sistem de operare: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 64-bit

             Procesor: Intel E 6750 Core 2 Duo 2.66 GHz / AMD Athlon X2 2.7 GHz

             Memorie RAM: 4 GB

             Placa video: Compatibile DirectX 11, AMD Radeon HD 7770 / Nvidia Geforce GTX 560

               Cerinte de sistem recomandate:

             Sistem de operare: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 64-bit

              Procesor: Quad-Core cu frecventa de 3 GHz

              Memorie RAM: 8 GB      

               Placa video: 2 GB ATI Radeon HD 7970 /  2GB Nvidia Geforce GTX 770  sau mai buna.

[ccharliem]

Quantum Break – Review

             After five years in development, Remedy’s new game has finally seen the daylight. Now that is here let’s take a look at what the aforemencioned studio has to offer in their new IP.

           Quantum Break is a story-driven third person shooter which tries to offer a cinematic experienced like never before.

           It starts off with our protagonist, Jack Joyce, which was asked to come back in his hometown by his good friend, Paul Serene, so that he can witness Paul’s newest invention, a time machine. As you can already anticipate, things will get very messy.

           The game is separated in 4 acts and in between you get to experience a different part of the story with some live-action sequences called “Episodes”, very high quality, featuring Aidan Gillen(as Paul Serene), Shawn Ashmore(as Jack Joyce), Lance Reddick (as Martin Hatch) and more. These episodes can be either downloaded from the store or streamed, and you are not obliged to watch them, you can always skip or rewatch them at any time.

           After the end of each act you will encounter some short sequences called “Junctions” in which you have to take one of two decisions that affect the path on which the story goes on.

           Even though is not such a big element in the game, I find it very interesting that they really spent time and money to creat a TV show  to go along with the game; it can be a nice change of pace for some people.

           As I mentioned before this is a third-person shooter and you will spend a good chunk of the game in gunfights, so the question is: How is the shooting mechanic? How good is the gunplay? Well, I personally never experienced any problem with the gunplay, every weapon has their unique behavior, each feels different in their own way, the recoil and the spread feel somewhat natural.

           While Jack always has his weapons with him, that is not his only way to get through a combat sequence. Jack also possess some abilities to manipulate time. At first you will feel like you will only use two or three of them, but that is not the case. You get most of your abilities fairly early in the game and each of them has their own purpose, each of them being useful in its own way and in different situations. Mixing those abilities together can result in some really impressive moments and in some really powerful combos. These abilities can be upgraded by finding Chronon Sources, which are basically upgrade points. Each ability has their specific upgrade tree.

           Keeping in mind that Quantum Break is an Xbox One console exclusive title, it does a really good job in presenting its best environments, using a thick layer of motion blur. At first, you will feel that there is a problem with the frame-rate, but after a short while, you won’t notice any fps issue. The fact that in some parts the world itself is glitching because of the damages caused by the time travelling, can mask some glitching problems of the game, you can’t really tell if that specific glitch was meant to be there or not.

           Some people may call out the fact that this game runs at a resolution of 900p and at 30 frames-per-second, but this is not an issue at all. The presentation level is really high in this game and every combat sequence feels just right. So those who are worried about breathe easy.

           After playing through the game with such pleasure, I was personally disappointed with the “Final boss fight” which basically consists in a couple of waves of enemies that you already encountered previously in the game and the antagonist doing some “dangerous” stuff. This game is not hard by any means, so you it shouldn’t be too much of a hustle to beat it. But even so I expected a better executed final fight. What if you could have fought the antagonist in a 1v1 duel using your time powers. That could have been nice.

             THE VERDICT

           After a long wait and high hopes, Remedy succeeded in delivering a new experience and even if it doesn’t add much to the third-person genre, it manages to be interesting, eye catching and fun, all at once.

           If you are an Xbox One owner, you should at least give this game a try.

Final Verdict – 9/10

[ccharliem]

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End – Review

           The newest and supposedly the last uncharted in the series has finally arrived and now it’s time to take a look at it.

           Naughty Dog has a really good track-record of not disappointing with their releases, but is Uncharted 4 the game that breaks this combo? Let’s find out.

           The newest adventure in our beloved protagonist’s life focuses more on Nathan Drake’s past and on his relationship with his brother, which for various reasons couldn’t make his appearance in the previous titles.

           Some of you may be worried that Uncharted 4 leans away from the successful formula of the previous games, but you got nothing to worry about. This game actually improves all the elements that made the Uncharted franchise popular.

           All these years, the Uncharted series was compared to a Hollywood movie in which you can control the action on the screen.

           Right from the first couple of minutes you will be astounded by this game high graphic fidelity. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is unquestionably one of the best-looking games to date. Even if many people will say that games like The Order 1886 actually look better, keeping in mind that Uncharted 4 pays so much attention to details plus the open levels that you can approach on different paths offers a really different experience once you get in the game. You will notice the top-level presentation in the game’s real-time cinematics, thanks to the each actor that excellently play their role and to the animation system which makes the characters really expressive.

           The story in the newest Uncharted game, doesn’t brake any barriers, being again focused around a treasure hunter which carries other characters alongside him. Characters from previous game, like Sully and Elena, are still present in this one being used as side-kicks or wake up calls for Drake.

           As in every other game in the series, the antagonists are more of a caricature to real persons. They don’t appear as much as the protagonist and his friends, but you are given plenty of reasons why you should not like them, or even wish them a slow painful death.

           Is it worth mentioning that this title is longer than the previous ones, if the first games in the series could have been beaten in 8 to 10 hours, this one needs from 13 to 15 hours to finish on a medium difficulty. Those “bonus” hours are filled with more open and explorable areas and more cinematics. As I said “more open”; it is true that this game is as linear as his predecessor, but Naughty Dog decided to offer more freedom in dealing with different situations. For example: a gun-fight sequence can now be done stealthly, without even shooting a bullet, if an enemy detects you and starts spreading bullets towards you, you now have the option to run and hide so they can lose your trace, but they will be aware that you are somewhere around there, so keep that in mind.

           Drake can now climb on most of the environmental objects so the path to your objective won’t be so obvious, instead it requires some more exploration. Having at least two paths to get to your objective is a really needed breath of fresh air. Aside from the multipath levels, Nate is now provided with a rope that can attached on different objects to help him make bigger jumps, and a stake that can be shoved on different surfaces , helpful in travelling more difficult areas.

           Definitely the biggest improvement is in the combat and the shooting mechanic. All weapons in Drake’s arsenal now feel more realistic than ever and the player is granted a lot more option in approaching different sections. The players who want to play this game in a “classic” manner, as a cover-based shooter, can in fact do that, but why not make use of the new mechanics that this game offers. You can combine stealth and shooting, eliminating some of your foes before starting to unload your ammunition on them. In some situations you are able to spare everybody’s life; you can just ignore them and get past them without them even realising it. Comparing the combat sequences from this game to the previous games, you will notice they are fewer and shorter, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

           Nathan Drake is also known for his capacity of resolving difficulty puzzles, created by the most wanted persons in history in order to protect their treasures. Uncharted 4 offers some of the best puzzles in the series, which are not impossible to solve, bet they are not obvious either, I will let you find that out all by yourself.

           Some of the open levels give the permission to drive a jeep and boat willingly. Now don’t imagine is going to be a rival for the Grand Theft Auto series, because is not. Getting from point A to point B is pretty straight-forward but what you do on your way there is nobody’s business.

           Uncharted 4 does also offer a multiplayer mode, which for the people that played the multiplayer from Uncharted 2 and 3, will be really familiar. This multiplayer is pretty basic, you got Team Deathmatch, Plunder which is a Capture-The-Flag-like mode, Command which is a Domination mode and also a Ranked Team Deathmatch mode. As I’ve not spent much time in multiplayer I’m not gonna talk you much about it. You can play as characters presented in the current game but also in the previous games, you got a nice variety of weapons that you choose from and a lot of customizable items, some that can be bought with in-game currency, some that require you to play real money, but then again, they are strictly customization, they don’t affect the gameplay itself. The multiplayer part of the game runs at 60 frames-per-second, but also at a lowered resolution, 900p, compared to the single player part which runs at a full 1080p and 30 frames-per-second, giving a better fluidity in multiplayer.

           The number of polygons and effects are not the main bullet point of the game, but the animation which really give life to the characters.

           Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is such a complex title and is really hard to talk about without giving away some details that might ruin the player experience.

           If you were undecided whether to buy this game or not, I suggest you do, but not without playing the first three titles of the series first. Considering that fact that they are available for Playstation 4, you got no excuse whatsoever.

           In my opinion Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is unquestionably the best title in the series and I am really curious to see now that Naughty Dog is done with Uncharted, what will they do next.

Final Verdict – 9 out 10

[ccharliem]

My thoughts on PLATINUM DEMO – Final Fantasy XV

           The newest game in the Final Fantasy game just got demo available on Playstation 4 si Xbox One. The demo presents us our hero, Noctis, actually the demo presents us Noctis’s dream, in which he is guided by a creature, meant to protect him by the forces of evil witch defile the boy’s dreams.

           Because the demo’s action is set in a dream, there is not much of a story presented. The accent is put on gameplay and on the base mechanics of the game. Noctis’s arsenal is composed of a toy sword and a toy hammer until you reach the boss fight where things get more serious.

           Personally, I am not a big fan of the Final Fantasy franchise, but after playing this demo I declare myself pleseantly surprised and I want to see how to full release turns out to be.

           Graphic-wise the is really good. The locations that you get to experience in Noctis’s dream are stunning, they look beautiful. On the PS4 version tested, there are some problems with the frame-rate. The game can barely maintain 30 Fps, but as we speak about that demo, I am not worried about it.

            This game uses a really good particle system. Noctis’s weapons materialize when he uses them and these weapons have their specific type of sound effects.              Even if you are not a big Final Fantasy fan, this demo is worth checking out, only to explore the available locations.              Summing up, even if I’m not a fan of the series, this demo really got me thinking whether buy this game or not.              Final Fantasy XV will be released on September 30, 2016 on Playstation 4 and Xbox One.

[ccharliem]

Far Cry Primal - Review

Far Cry Primal – Review

When you hear the name “Far Cry”, the first things that comes to mind are exotic locations, antagonists with a slight mental dissorder and a world open to exploration.

The new iteration of the Far Cry franchise sends the player in a historical era that not manny companies had the guts to place the action in, Prehistorical Europa (*Fun fact – Based on the research of some scientists, the game is set in Romania, 10.000 BC).

The action is set in Oros, where our protagonist, Takkar, is one of the few survivors of the Wenja clan. His quest is to free Oros from the domination of Uldam, the rival clan of Wenja. Besides the fights that Takkar has to have with their rivals, he also needs to survive to all the ferocious beasts that walk around Oros.

Given the fact that the action is set in the Stone Age, there are no firearms, no vehicules, no hand gliders and nothing that we are used to from the previous games. Now the arsenal that Takkar can use is made out of spears, clubs and bows. As there are no more firearms and long-distance guns,  the confruntations with your enemies are mano-a-mano. Later in the games every weapon that you use will get different variations each of these useful in different situations. In addition to your aforementioned arsenal, Takkar can also use traps, bee-bombs, firebombs and different throwing shards.

Fire is an important mechanic of the game. This can be used to get the animals off your hair, actually off your guts or jugular, or can be used to increase the damage you do to your enemies. Fire also plays a very important role in the second half of the game when the cold can lead Takkar to his death. If you simply set a club on fire should be enough to keep you warm.

Even though the crafting mechanic was present in the previous games, in this one Ubi crossed the line a little bit. Each and every one of your weapons is actually consumable, which makes the hunt for resources unavoidable. If you despise travelling the whole map to find different animal hides, rare stones, a specific type of wood etc., then you will may want to avoid this game.

           Aside from the fact that Takkar is a strong warrior, he can also tame different beasts present in Oros and use them in his fights. These beasts can vary from wild dogs to tigers,bears, the legendary sabretooth tiger and even the one-mighty badger, the most ferocious beast of the Far Cry series. After spending a few upgrade points, you will also be able to ride some of these  beasts, being a substitute to vehicules from the previous titles of the franchise.

           Scouting is an element that plays a big role in gameplay. This is realised using an owl, which after used once to takedown an enemy, goes on a cooldown (cooldown time can be reduced after spending a few upgrade points in the Beast Tree). The aforementioned owl helps you plenty, it can mark your enemies to ease your confrontations, but can also be used as drop bombs on your foes, to ease your battles even more.

               The game’s world is filled with different side-quests that require you save your other captured Wenja brothers, kill the X beast, gather the X, Y, Z materials. It is true that after repeating those kinds of quests, boredom might make a very obvious presence, the only reason that will find yourself doing these quests for being the relatively high XP amount and Skill Points.

           Usually in Far Cry games the antagonists are a major selling point for the game, being presented at showcases, in trailer, being used for different merchandise and all that sort of stuff. But this on here is an exception of that. Even though the story is not spectacular that doesn’t mean whe don’t need a Far Cry – style antagonist. Primal’s negative characters are mostly in the game so that you’ll have a boss fight at some point in the game.

           As I mentioned the story is not spectacular and I stand by these words. The fact that the quests don’t come in an organic way and the player can complete them the way he pleases (some of the “main quests” are not even necessary to make your way to the end of the game), cuts the immersivity of a story more or less good.

           Summing up, whe have a spin-off of the Far Cry franchise,  with a really eye-candy time frame, with a so-so story and a solid gameplay. The fact that this is full-priced game could descourage some of you to try it and for good, the price is really spicy for not so good spin-off. Those who enjoy spending time to make all the icons on the map vanish will undoubtly get even more out of this game than the ones who expect a good story.

[ccharliem]

The Park - Review

The game starts off with our protagonist, Lorraine, who is just a young mother trying to find her son who ran into this amusement park. The beginning of the appears to be really innocent, it will immediately shift into a carnival of horror. As you walk deeper in this park you’ll find yourself “enjoying” all the atractions a carnival of death has to offer, like a rollercoaster, a spinning wheel etc.

           While the first half of the game focusses more on the carnival part, the second half pays more attention to developing the character as it shows you how Lorraine tries to deal with the burden of parenthood. You can also see what the results can be if your mind starts going in wrong way.

           From the mechanical point of view, this game doesn’t add much to first-person psychological horror genre and it’s not actually a real breath of fresh air, but it’s an hair that is worth an inhalition or two. Most of the times you can predict where jump-scares will be, but that won’t stop’em, the jump-scares will always be there ready to surprise you.

           The sound design in this game is just wonderful, it really adds to the experience. Ambiental sound effects, carnival songs, footsteps, persons weeping, evil voices and all that kind of stuff will be right there with you until the end of the game.

           Even if this game doesn’t add anything new to the horror genre, it’s still worth playing, you have a nice location to walk around in, spooky scare moments and a great atmosfere.