Category: Game reviews

Star Wars Battlefront 2 (EA)

battlefront 2 new

When I was covering the classic Star Wars: Battlefront 2 , I crapped all over this game. After clocking in roughly 30+ hours, I can say much of what I originally said still stands. What’s overall offered in the EA game pales in comparison to what the original did almost 15 years, 2 console generations ago and I’m flat out recommending that now more than EA’s. However, now I was able to play the story mode as well dive into much of the other modes and pretty much this review won’t compare old and new past this point but squarely on it’s own merit…

Battlefront 2 (EA) has it’s own original story, set after the events of Return of the Jedi when the second Death Star fell. We primarily follow Inferno Squad, a badass special forces crew of the Imperial Army reigning revenge on the rebels, lead by Iden Versio. She was born and raised by her father, a high ranking Admiral in the Imperial Fleet, to believe the Empire were the good guys spreading law and justice throughout the lawlessness of space. Suddenly when Iden watches the cruelty of the Empire first hand against her loyal home-world, her and her comrade abandon the Empire and join the rebels to end the Empire once and for all…

The story itself is fine, not great or terrible but just kind of there. It’s best moments no doubt are when you are with the Empire and I think a better story could have done if the focus stayed on the Empire. The rebels don’t seem to really give that much of a shit that you essentially killed hundreds of there people simply because you said sorry and defected. The story is pretty short but an alright experience that has it’s moments.

The game’s focus is predominately multiplayer. The best mode in my opinion is Capitol Supremacy, which changes scenery and has some exciting pulls and feels like a real war. Heroes and Galactic Assault are solid but feel repetitive quick. Starfighter Assault would be my second favorite and I’m glad there bots mixed into the fray, making it feel more full. The horrendous system has been cut all around and Heroes are way more affordable but you can still find the pay-to-winners scattered throughout. The Heroes ain’t bad but feel clunky and require practice to get good with them.  Gameplay overall is solid but I warn you there are some pretty hard bugs throughout the game. I’ve had games crash, I’ve fallen into the nothing void a few times, and a few times the environment just disappeared only to pop up and kill me. In the end, it’s an alright game on sale if you need a Star Wars fix but I wouldn’t pay anything over 20 for it. May the force be with you and the gaming gods bring you glory.

Island of Terror

isle of terror

This goes out to my parents, Duke and Marsha, who watched this movie all the time when I was a kid amongst dozens of others. This stuck out to me for a variety of reasons I’ll get to at the very end.

Essentially we begin with an instance of man playing god, creating a strange series of lifeforms that could best be called “turtles”. These turtles are in fact giant, lumpy creatures that kill with long stinger-ed tentacles, liquefying the victim’s bones and fluid and sucking them dry ( think early Cell from DBZ). A pair of scientists are trying to track down the creatures origin while trying to survive the growing infestation…

For a early monster monster movie, it ain’t bad for it’s time. The acting is solid if not a bit too serious for a movie like this. The music ranges from solid to mildly corny. There are some decently creepy environments and atmosphere. What I will always remember about this movie are the “turtles”. They look goofy and are ludicrously slow; I laughed my ass every time they’d get someone because you know there would be no way in hell these things would kill anyone in real life. But, what I remember most, and I’m not exaggerating here, I’m pretty sure they bleed and gush raw Campell’s Chicken Noodle soup. Originally, if I’m correct this movie was in black and white where they may have been able to get away with it, but color it’s hilarious. In the end it’s not a bad old sci fi horror movie that cn worth some laughs. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Pokemon Stadium

pokemon stadium With Detective Pikachu killing it in theaters, I wanted to look back at a classic for 90’s kids.  Pokemon Stadium was a simple concept done right- choose from the classic first generation 150 Pokemon and battle in epic tournaments against the AI or your friends, challenge the classic Indigo League gym leaders, or play some pretty fun mini games.

Much like the classic Pokemon games on Gameboy ( Red, Blue, Yellow, etc.) battling is standard turned based combat. I admit, knowing Pokemon in advance is a huge advantage. Types are everything and discovering what type beats your opponent  grants you a near instant K.O. While the combat is certainly fun, type-matching and spam moves rule. There are a awesome assortment of modes to choose from; my favorite was a combination of the gym leader tower and the mini games. The graphics are fairly solid for the time but the sound effects are pretty corny, even for twenty years ago. While I don’t have much to say, if you have a friend and an N64, Pokemon Stadium is an amazing time. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Stellaris Console Multiplayer

To be clear this isn’t a review of the full game, that has already been covered here. Stellaris Console Edition (PS4) I did want to touch on the newly released multiplayer tho because it is a pretty huge addition to the game and a free update for everyone. While PC has had this for a while this has only been available on console since the 21st of this month as part of a free update.

First I have to say when you start up, it can be a hassle to find a game. There isn’t always a ton of them and people don’t always want random people joining their game. There are usually about 7-10 for me a,d the first couple I usually get rejected from. That said once you are in even if people drop out the game just continues and if someone else joins they just pick up where others left off while the PC controls while they are gone. This is cool because honestly loading into a game can take a bit of time, and the game does pause whenever someone loads in.

As far as how the game functions itself, it all works just as well and the same as in single player, tho for obvious reasons you can not pause the game. Honestly tho with the load times and finding a game for me it just wasn’t worth playing unless you have your own group of friends to play with, which by the way seems to max out at 4 human players. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Surviving Mars, Green Planet (PS4)

As many of you know I have reviewed this game before once on Surviving Mars (Xbox One) and once on Surviving Mars (PS4). Now I had a lot of nice things to say about the game, but I did specifically say do NOT by the game on the PS4 at that time because the game was flat out broken due to a glitch with the save that always corrupted it. Well, I am back on the PS4 to see if it has been fixed and to check out the new Green Planet DLC.

First the game-breaking glitch. After spending some time with it and messing around exiting the game and turning my system on and off I have not run into it, so I am comfortable to say it is fixed.

Now the DLC. That is quite nice, it adds an entirely new resource with seeds that can be used to grow different types of plants which will help turn Mars into a lush green paradise. You will also be tasked with building a capital there as well.  There are new buildings to enjoy, and you can even launch nukes at the ice caps, there is plenty of new content. Is it worth it? That is entirely up to you. I found it interesting and fun, but realistically it was nothing must have.  Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Dauntless (PS4)

Dauntless is developed by Phoenix Labs and Published by Epic games and is the first game to launch on PS4 and Xbox with full cross-play between those and PC with the Switch possibly being added later. After putting some time into it I can see why so many people are calling it free to play Monster Hunter because that is what it is at its core. There is a core city that you will do all your crafting at, which you will get parts from killing monsters and collecting herbs and such on the map as you fight them.

Graphically and the sound is nice and has a completely different art style which is rather nice to look at, and the controls are vastly different as well. You use the square button for quick attacks and triangle for a slower heavy attack with R1 acting as a special attack that charges up. Each weapon has its own versions of this and guns work even different still. None of them feel bad and they all have their own benefits and weaknesses. The game is fun, but admittedly if you have the option to just play Monster Hunter you should just play that. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Hustle Castle (Mobile)

Hustle Castle lets you build your own castle in a similar way to building a vault in Fallout Shelter. You also collect people for your castle and assign them jobs whether it be in the kitchen or as soldiers to fight for you. You can even toss two adults in a bedroom to get a baby if you want.

The game starts off pretty standard, but it won’t take long to realize you will be tossing a lot of time into it waiting for things to build or tossing a lot of money into it to hurry things along. The game isn’t exactly paid to win, you can play it and proceed without real money, but you are at a distinct disadvantage by doing so. It is a fun little time sink if you just want to mess with something, but expect to be waiting for a lot of things. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Traffic Run (Mobile)

Every so often I see a mobile game and I think, that can not be as stupid as it looks. Enter Traffic Run. A game full of annoying ads that is actually as bad as it looks. You basically hold a spot on the screen (doesn’t really matter where) and the car moves. Your mission is to get from point A to point B without hitting other cars and collecting some coins. This is in no way fun or interesting, and if you crash the game asks you to watch an ad to respawn, or you can just start the mission over. Every so often tho the game makes you watch an ad anyway. Now I understand ad revenue is how they make money, it is a free game and I don’t even disagree with them doing this. But there is a point where they are just ruining any sort of attempt at a game experience, and this game dives right into that area for me. This one is best avoided. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Banner Saga (PS4)

The Banner Saga is one of those games I picked up on sale a long time ago and just ended up in my backlog of games. I actually got this and the 2nd one which I also haven’t played obviously. I have no real reason why I haven’t played it, I have always heard good things and I enjoy tactical RPG’s. So I finally got around to checking this bad boy out and I have to say I wish I did it much sooner. The story is great and involves a sort of Viking mythology only the gods are very real and very dead. They also created a race called the Dredge, specifically to make the Humans and Varl stop fighting to join forces and fight them. This game takes place just before a 3rd great war breaks out, one no human alive remembers but some of the oldest Varl fought in, as nobody actually knows how long they live. The game is interesting and has plenty of twist and turns, but does have its issues.

For starters, the game was designed PC and Mobile phones, and it shows. Even when it released the graphics weren’t that great and the game was short, you can beat it in under 10 hours tho for the price this isn’t a big deal to me, tho it is there. Some aspects of the leveling system also are not very well explained and having to use renown to both level characters and buy supplies and items was an interesting idea and with more renown or making it slightly easier to get maybe would have fixed this, as it stands it is rather annoying more than a challenge.

The game, however, is worth buying. You do have to know going into it tho that it is called a saga for a legitimate reason. The 1st one has a legitimate ending and you won’t really be left hanging, but it is not the end of the story. It carries over into the next game, and while you are perfectly capable of just starting with the 2nd, they are very much connected and the decisions you make in one will carry to part 2. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Mass Effect 3

mass effect 3

Continuing after the events of Mass Effect 2 Shepherd has returned to the Alliance on Earth and Cerberus has began running amok. If that wasn’t troubling enough, the Reapers have began harvesting more races and changing them into monsters. The story begins with the unimaginable, the Reapers descending on Earth, obliterating Alliance HQ and Shepherd, traumatized by the devastation watches as the clock starts ticking. Generations of conflict between races  must be settled if any race across the universe is to survive, but can Shepherd unite entire worlds in a seemingly hapless war when time is short and the Illusive Man still lurks around…

Mass Effect 3 has been said to be one of the biggest disappointments in modern gaming and arguably it began the decline of EA’s reputation. Of the trilogy, I admit its the weakest entry but still an awesome game. The opening is awesome in it’s sheer scope and sets up an emotional final entry. While you get a smaller roster of characters as you’re allies this time, with the exception of one, you have prior relationships with your team. Many for the characters you’ve encountered through the trilogy come have satisfying conclusions and throughout the game there are some great tear jerk scenes. Gameplay is still fun and fluid but while in the Normandy, there are some new check points that slow you down all of a sudden. It’s also kind of point less that they have a stealth take down mechanic but I rarely found a time to use it. The ultimate endings are meh but as I see it, with such a epic build up, its rare a ending could have matched the hype. In the end, it was a solid end to what many consider one of gaming’s greatest trilogy. May the gaming gods bring you glory.