Game reviews – Page 72 – Savior Gaming

Planetside 2 (PS4)

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So me and @torstenvblog have been trying to find a game to play recently, and with Dead by Daylight being free this month on PSN we started there, and well you can read to see how that went. We then said let’s try Planetside 2, which me and Torsten actually have conflicting opinions on. See he hates it and used some, colorful, terms to describe it. Full disclosure he died, a lot and often.

On the other hand there is me, I also died quite a bit to be 100% honest but unlike him I got better as time went on. The game has some huge maps, that for a free game look pretty damn good. Admittedly Warframe is still the pinnacle of free games in my opinion, in case you are looking for a bench mark. Planetside 2 also comes nowhere near that mark. The looks and sounds however are nothing to sneeze at however.

The controls function just fine as well, and in out time playing I never really had any issues that I would consider game breaking or even annoying. The layout is pretty standard, so really its hard to mess up and the aiming speed is always going to be subjective to how goo or bad it is, so tasters choice there.

The game however isn’t great and suffers from some flaws. First, it gives you no real guidance on what you should be doing. You pick a faction, but it doesn’t really tell you anything about them. I googled them prior which seems to be your only option. The game then tosses you right in with no explanation on how to even get into battle or how to really even find one. I wouldn’t call it hard to figure out, but I’ve been paying games longer than many of my readers have been alive and I mean that in a very literal way. One of my first memories is of sitting with my dad playing asteroids on Intellivision and thinking the NES was the greatest thing to ever be invented because the graphics were amazing. @torstenvblog was a bit more confused than I was, he is also a bit younger and a bit less experienced. To say its a huge problem would be an exaggeration, to say it is not a problem or could not be a problem would be a lie.

The game however with some practice and time is quite a bit of fun. I found myself using a jet pack to maneuver up a mountain to sneak around the side of a base to take a location or fighting with 5 or 6 other guys up a mountain path trying to push our way to a building wishing our idiot air support would fly over and hit something. There are long bouts of nothingness on huge maps followed by intense moments of fighting and that is where the game is very hit or miss. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Dead by Daylight

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This review may not but long, but there isn’t a huge abundance of material to work with here. Before Friday The 13th: The Game, this was the big horror movie simulator. A group of people thrown onto a map having to escape from a deranged maniac who wants them dead.There’s not really much of a story, except that the killers are sacrificing these teens to the Entity and to fully register them as dead, they must be placed in these contraptions. The killers look cool, from a wretched Hag, to a face wearing Hillbilly and the survivors are your normal, young horror movie fodder. There’s no NPCs, it’s completely multiplayer.

Savior and I took this puppy out for a test drive; about an hour later we simultaneously blurted out “fuck this game” and Savior deleted it. What hit us first was how long it took for us to really start the game. Unless you have a group of 5, a game between you and your friends won’t last long. We had matches that literally lasted 2 minutes. Being the killer was fun, I admit because compared to everyone else, you felt like a god on the map. Some teleport. Some have higher senses and some have traps and all have weapons of some kind. As a survivor you sneak, run, and “hide”- I put this in quotations because you get these closets to hide in that any killer with a brain would check. There’s perks but they don’t really come too much into play as a survivor. If that killer gets you, you’re totally screwed. Unless you’re really skilled or lucky with a dumb killer, the second that killer catches you you’re dead friend. As a survivor you have to fix 5 generators hidden on the map which are a pain in the ass because if you aren’t good at quick hitting buttons you’re screwed, it makes noise and draws on longer. You have no defenses what so ever. Out of 10 games we played, we only saw 1 where a survivor lived. Honestly, we began laughing at a lot of scenes that should have terrified us; watching it is like a gory Benny Hill skit.

Dead by Daylight maybe fun for a little bit if you have a good group of friends, now would be the chance now that its free on PSN this month, but you’ll get bored quick even then. The objective never changes, whether its ranked or not. If it’s you and a solitary buddy, I wouldn’t waste my time. My the gaming gods bring you glory.

Euro Truck Simulator 2

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This game in theory, is dumb as hell. Hey let’s make you drive a truck, following actual European traffic laws, while delivering goods, for no other reason than to buy better stuff than to do it again. Seriously, tell me in theory this game shouldn’t be garbage. However, the game is actually quite fun and amazing. I don’t know how or why. But it is. The game is exactly what I described, and it isn’t even graphically amazing. It is simply relaxing to just drive your truck around.

Here are some issues tho I had with it. I have never been to Europe. So I don’t really understand their traffic laws. That being said, I am 100% positive no cop on earth is going to nail me only for speeding while I am driving down the wrong side of the highway. Not to mention some times my trailer would hit shit and get stuck on stuff that doesn’t seem to exist at all.

The game tho is weirdly fun and is aside from backing up a damn trailer is quite simplistic, but is just fun and relaxing, and I do appreciate the ability to stick music into the sound folder and play music on the radio. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Mimic

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Before Guillermo Del Toro became a huge name in film with the HellBoy movies, Pan’s Labyrinth, Pacific Rim and The Shape of Water, we got Mimic. And no, not the Mimics from the Souls game.

Mimic begins with 2 scientists tasked with killing a terrible epidemic. Their solution is to kill the spreaders, by genetically creating cockroaches to kill off the carrier insects that spread the disease; after a generation, the insects would die and life would go on. Years later, then scientist responsible comes across massive versions of her work, which leads her and her husband to search them out. But unexplained disappearances suggest there creations have evolved to be more than they bargained for, evolving into hideous humanoid creatures under the subway…

This particular review is going to be pretty subjective. I know a lot of people that love this movie as a 90’s cult classic and back in the day, the effects were solid. I don’t have that nostalgia however. I never saw it until a week ago and I ain’t really a fan. The characters are pretty forgettable, the effects haven’t aged very good, and I couldn’t help feeling like it was a poor man’s Alien . While some set pieces and creature designs are very Giger- inspired and hell, you have Charles S Dutton via Alien 3 the script doesn’t have the suspense or characters to hold it up. The movie ain’t terrible, but unless you are nostalgic or curious, I can’t really recommend it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

No Man’s Sky Next

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Oh No Man’s Sky, we meet again. By now you all know the history with this game and Hello Games. We aren’t going to waste much time on that but will just dive into the game itself.

The basics haven’t changed. You will spend a ton of time wandering around collecting various minerals simply finding stuff to build or discover. This hasn’t changed and basically never will. Nobody however expected it to I hope. It’s also quite fun, and now the base building is important enough to be worth it and even is easy enough to teleport around to make it worth it. And most importantly, we have true multiplayer. Your friends can now join you and help build an awesome base, fight pirates or simply just wander aimlessly. The game as a few of my friends out it, is finally fun. Now I enjoyed the day one version but admittedly it had its issues, many of which are now fixed. That being said, its Hello Games.

Yup there is a but coming. The game has an issue. While playing with friends, I am bopping around my new base and boom, I am disconnected. No big deal it happens. The issue is this happens a lot, and while I don’t know if it’s an issue on PC I can confirm it happens on both Xbox and PS4 and it happens a lot. I am talking double ten plus an hour at times a lot. It isn’t truly a deal breaker but I can’t lie it has driven me away from the game at times. It also does seem to me an issues on some planets more than others for me as well. I have a base I built that I essentially can’t go near because I get tossed from my game constantly, but if I am anywhere else in the solar system I can play just fine it seems. This may just be a coincidence tho.

The game is fun, and I am having more fun than ever playing with friends, but damn this new issue may keep me away. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Guts And Glory (PS4)

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Guts and Glory is a PC game and recently popped up on PS4 surprisingly. I say surprisingly because the game is pretty messed up. The game is all about getting your character through obstacle courses. Some times in a park, or a small city or maybe in a sort of camp ground. The courses are made up of spinning saw blades, flying arrows, cannon balls and other assorted things to kill you. I’ve been shot in the head with arrows, been blown to pieces by landmines and even had my head blown off with a cannon ball.

The game has its issues, for example the controls aren’t very good. The are kind of clunky, and the games physics can be wonky to say the least. The game does have one big thing going for it tho. The game is fun. That is it, the game is just dumb fun. For $15 if you like a semi gory type game that serves no real purpose, this game may be for you. If not, should probably skip this one. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Mario Kart 64

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I needed a little break from covering trailers from this year’s San Diego Comic Con and I remembered seeing something about a N64 classic on Facebook and being thrilled with just the idea. The N64 was my first game system ever.Mario Kart was pretty much a staple for anyone who had the system: Mario and his friends race on go karts through a huge list of tracks with various hazards or you and your friends can battle on Vs mode.

For characters we get Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Wario, Bowser, Toad, Yoshi, and Peach; Bowser was always my favorite. I have to give some of the maps a lot of credit for being tricky and innovative, especially for the times. There was a slick ice map where you could easily slide into the water, a haunted dock where you had to evade ghosts, a highway dodging cars, and the Rainbow Road- my absolute favorite track- had who twisting and turning on a rainbow through space while being attacked by huge chomping wrecking ball things ( my friend Violet would know what they are I’m sure.) To make things interesting, you can pick up power ups, whether its banana peels, a mushroom for turbo, turtle shells to blast the competition or the coveted star that makes you faster, invulnerable, and generally kicks ass. And if you ain’t in the mood for a race, have a vs fight on one of four original maps. Each player has a number of balloons tied to them and the last player with balloons left wins.

Mario Kart is an awesome classic that’s simple as hell but fun as can be and deserves a good play. May the gaming gods bring you glory and beware the blue turtle shells.

Star Ocean Anamensis (Mobile)

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Star Ocean Amanesis is a mobile game from Square Enix and developed by Tri-Ace for android and iOS. Like many mobile games this one is free to play and features the characters from the Star Ocean games of the past. It follows the events of Integrity and Faithlessness and involves being attacked by pirates and memory loss. I won’t spoil too much since the game is free to play so i won’t spoil it to much.

The game board basically alternates back and forth between story tiles and battles where you collect items and such. As per usual you progress thru the game and collect characters and more powerful weapons. You don’t need to you money to do this, but as always it will make things much easier and more powerful. The game so far for me hasn’t come across as pay to win, but the best stuff isn’t easy to come across either and I would much rather play the more traditional Star Ocean games. Suffice it to say I will be playing it, but I won’t be sinking any cash into it. The game however does look and sound nice. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Pokemon Quest (Mobile)

Pokemon Quest is a free Mobile and Nintendo switch game from Game freak released in 2018.

Pokemon Quest is a cute little game for Nintendo Switch, Android and iOS. I decided to check out the Mobile version on Android since its free and admittedly I don’t have access to a Switch or iOS device. I am curious if there are any differences between the Switch and Mobile versions so someday I hope to find that out, if I ever do I will be writing another one of these.

The game is quite simplistic, you go to an island to discover treasure and befriend a pokemon for help. You will choose from one of the three original starters of Charmander, Squirtle or Bulbasaur. There are also 2 additional choices of Evvee and Pikachu. There is a small twist tho, they are all little block creatures.

The game is mostly just your pokemon walking around on their own, they also attack on their own but you choose their special attacks. The game is quite intuitive on its own. I never had an issue with them getting stuck or anything like that.

The biggest issue I had with the game was the cooking mechanic. You need to go thru 4 or 5 levels until its done cooking, then you get a pokemon based off what you cooked. While this is interesting it can take a while to get the pokemon you need for where you happen to be. It’s not a deal breaker it can just be pretty annoying at times, tho there are enough guides online to make it less time-consuming. It is also worth noting you can play the game without spending any real money, tho as always it will make your life much easier.

At the end of the day tho you have to ask yourself what you want from a game. Pokemon Quest is basically a cute time sink for the more dedicated pokemon fans. I think your more average fans won’t really put enough time into this to collect the pokemon or the equip items to get far enough to enjoy it. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Railway Empire PS4 Pro Vs Xbox One X

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After getting to play both the PS4 pro version and the Xbox one version Railway Empire I decided some of you may have wondered, what is the difference between the two versions of the game?

Well for starters the content is exactly the same, so if you have to choose don’t worry there. You will be buying the same game regardless. There is some DLC available opening up Mexico, but I have no experienced that on either console so I can’t say if that is worth purchasing.

Graphically they both look great, but I do honestly have to give a slight advantage to the Xbox One X. This isn’t to say the pro looked significantly worse. In fact it is truly splitting hairs to say one looks better than the others,I truthfully can’t even say why I like the Xbox versions looks better, I just do. It just seems a bit more crisp.

As for controls, I have to give it to the Pro. They respond better and function better. Again, this isn’t by a significant amount and I am by no means putting down the Xbox version. The difference is slight and you can go wrong with either console.

Both versions of the game look and play great, the sound of both as far as I can tell are exactly the same so really its tasters choice on which one to pick. I do prefer the Pro version. It just seemed to play a little better to me, not by any substantial margin, but just enough to make me like it more. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.