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BioShock Infinite

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 06/09/2013

Posted in: Linux, Mac, Microsoft, Microsoft Consoles, Nintendo Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Retro Consoles, Sony, Sony Consoles, Steam Deck Playable, Steam Deck Verification, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One. Tagged: 2k games, bioshock, bioshock infinite, directx 11, fps, irrational games, Microsoft, pc, playstation 3, ps3, shooter, Sony, Xbox 360. Leave a comment

Publisher: 2K Games

Developer: Irrational Games

Release Date: 3/26/2013

Available On

Well, here it is. One of the most anticipated games of the decade. BioShock was a masterpiece that raised the bar for storytelling in games as well as graphics and atmosphere. The underwater city of Rapture was loved by most gamers and became an instant classic. Infinite raises the bar yet again, and I have to say that this is one of the most beautiful and well-made games I have ever played, but even beautiful things have flaws.

The beginning of the game is just breathtaking and spectacular. It’s probably my favorite opening to any game. I honestly can’t explain much about the story because everything would be a spoiler. All I can say is that you are a man named Booker DeWitt who needs to bring back a girl from the floating city of Columbia named Elizabeth. If he brings her back, he can wipe away his debt from gambling. The story progresses into a huge twist ending, fully cuts you loose, and doesn’t quite answer every question. The ending will shock you and even make my jaw drop. It’s a beautiful ending that is going to have gamers talking about it for years to come.

BioShock’s story is also told through the journey. There are no pre-rendered cutscenes or anything to break the flow. A lot of the story is told through hidden journals, like in previous games. There are a lot of similarities to older BioShock games, but everything is improved upon. The combat system still uses guns and magic attacks; however, you get Vigor this time around. They are replenished with salts that you find instead of Eve Hypos. Honestly, the Vigors don’t seem as useful as the Plasmids did. I pretty much stuck with a couple through the whole game because there are so many guns that these end up being more useful. Crow’s Trap is one of my favorites. You can send angry crows at enemies to pick and stun them, or you can lay traps. My favorite was the shock vigor. It can stun enemies, but later on, it can chain across enemies and make their heads pop. There’s one for fire; Bronco lets you throw enemies into the air; there’s a tentacle one that pulls enemies towards you; and there’s also one that allows you to charge enemies and cause damage. They sound neat, and they look neat in action, but the combat is more fast-paced and challenging than in previous games.

The guns feel so great to shoot in this game. There are pistols, sniper rifles, shotguns, and the typical ones for shooters. Hail Fire and Volley Gun shoot grenades; there’s an M1 Carbine, a repeater, and various others. Honestly, I wish there were more unique weapons like in older BioShocks, but at least they feel good to shoot, and there are plenty of them. I didn’t really need to resort to Vigor unless I had a lot of people after me or had large enemies to deal with.

Speaking of enemies, the ones in Infinite are some of the most imaginative since BioShock 1. There are various human enemies, but the Patriots and Handymen are awesome. There are also various creatures and some fun boss fights as well. I just wish there was a larger variety. There are different reskins of these enemies, but I really just wanted more to shoot at. The Patriots have chain guns that are hard to bring down but are weak in the back. Handymen are rarely encountered, but they are giant lumbering beasts and bosses on their own. Infinite gives you more exploration options during combat. Using the Skyline is so fun and magical. You can slow down, reverse, and hop down wherever you want. You can shoot from these skylines, so it adds a tactical element the series needs. You even get a better melee weapon that has gruesome finishing kills that will make you cringe.

Combat is just very solid in Infinite, but by the end of the game, it started feeling repetitive, and all that kept me going was the story and new places to explore. Infinite has a lot of secrets that need to be opened with lockpicks that you can find. You can equip gear that adds attributes, and you can upgrade weapons via stations around Columbia, like you did in BioShock. You can also upgrade your Vigors, which is nice; there are a lot of upgrades, and you won’t get them all in one playthrough.

When it comes to visuals, Infinite is one of the most beautiful and original games ever made…ever. On PC the DirectX 11 upgrade looks fantastic, the lighting is amazing, and the art style the team went for will blow your mind. I spent the first few hours just staring at everything because of how beautiful it looked. The pacing is spot-on, and the story makes you care about all the characters, or hate them. Ken Levine and his team are masters of their art and it’s proven here. This may even be his opus, but only time will tell. There’s nothing out there like Infinite; this is probably one of the few shooters in years that has tried to use the genre for what it’s good for. There’s no multiplayer, but you don’t need it. I also wish there were visual upgrades to the weapons like in BioShock 1, but those are minor gripes. Honestly, it’s hard to complain about this game other than the lack of enemy variety, the fact that Vigors feel underpowered, and the fact that there are no visual upgrades on weapons. The story is fantastic and gripping, and this game will hopefully live on to be one of the best ever made.

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Keyboard & Mouse

Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 06/08/2013

Posted in: Microsoft, Nintendo, PC Reviews, PlayStation 3, Retro Consoles, Sony, Steam Deck Unsupported, Steam Deck Verification, Wii U, Xbox 360. Tagged: 3, 360, activision, black ops ii, call of duty, fps, Microsoft, multiplayer, Nintendo, online, playstation, ps3, shooter, Sony, treyarch, wii u, xbox. Leave a comment

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Treyarch

Release Date: 11/18/2012

Available On

Here we go again: another Call of Duty. When will it ever end? Before you start the hate-mongering, just know this: Call of Duty still has some of the best online multiplayer you can get. At least Black Ops tried to change the series a bit with new modes and experimented with what Modern Warfare established; it also had a much more interesting storyline and decent characters. Black Ops II is the same way, but it’s too late to really matter.

The game picks up where the first left off; if you haven’t played it, good luck figuring it out. Alex Mason is searching for a man named Raul Menendez. This is one sick puppy. This guy is a terrorist and more evil than you can imagine. The story jumps around from Mason’s son, Alex, to David Mason back in the Cold War. If you notice something, this game is more futuristic. It’s set in 2025, so there is some cool tech that’s just out of reach for today. Things like cloaking devices, VTOLs, and various other guns. The game just jumps between the first Cold War and the second. During the first one, you are trying to figure out what made Menendez crack. You later jump to the second one with Mason and Harper, using the information you got from a guy who was in the cold war with Mason. It’s a bit confusing and seems pretty boring at first. Later on, the story really picks up and gets really interesting; I actually liked it. It’s not fantastic, and it’s no Assassin’s Creed, but it’s pretty good for an FPS.

The campaign is still a shooting gallery, but it doesn’t seem that way thanks to the great level of design and a lot of cinematic one-off moments. Moments like jumping on turrets and driving various vehicles and aircraft, among others. It’s all fun, and not a single level feels the same, but the underlying core is still there: shoot everything that moves. The AI is still pretty dumb, but I like how you can customize your loadout before a mission. There are many unique and fun guns, unlike the Modern Warfare series. Later on, you will be able to play through special side missions called Strike Force Missions, which are pretty much just a capture-and-hold mode or siege. Those side missions all feel the same and are pretty repetitive. It’s not as fun as online because of the dumb AI; you have to do everything yourself.

After you finish the entertaining story, it’s multiplayer time! The old Black Ops modes return, like One in the Chamber and Last Man Standing. Of course, all the others from the entire series are here. Honestly, the biggest change is that killstreaks have been replaced with scorestreaks, which I prefer. It was so hard to get more than 3-4 kills in a row for most players. Now you get streaks based on your score, which lets you use the cooler, more powerful ones more often. However, I found the maps to be pretty mediocre. I learned to like a few, but they are lacking a bit in some way.

call-of-duty-black-ops-2-wii-u-gamepad-screenshots-2

Zombies returns and is as fun as ever; there are more modes and an 8-player co-op; it also has a full-on online component, unlike the previous game. There’s quite a bit of content here, and you will be coming back for hours to come. I just don’t understand why Treyarch couldn’t break the mold a bit more. I like the multiple endings and how choices in the story can change the ending. But there are things here like Jimmy Kimmel’s likeness at one end and Avenged Sevenfold at the end of one. I mean, really? Are 14-year-olds really going to buy this because Avenged Sevenfold is in it? I really hate how developers do this and can’t just use their own ideas. It’s a cop-out or sell-out, whatever you want to call it. I also don’t understand why the campaign can’t be a bit more intelligent gameplay-wise, like Battlefield 3. I blame the young gamer’s instant gratification issue on that, but who knows?

What’s here is a solid game and hopefully the last of the Black Ops series. The Wii U version looks a bit better than consoles, and you can play the whole game on the gamepad, which is nice; there are no shoehorned gimmicks for it. I did notice that the gamepad’s analog sticks are a bit sensitive, and I had some trouble adjusting.

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Mass Effect 2

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 06/08/2013

Posted in: Microsoft, PC Reviews, PlayStation 3, Retro Consoles, Sony, Steam Deck Unknown, Steam Deck Verification, Xbox 360. Tagged: bioware, ea, mass effect 2, Microsoft, rpg, shooter, xbox, Xbox 360. 2 Comments

Publisher: EA

Developer: BioWare

Release Date: 1/26/2010

Available On

BioWare has to be some of the most talented beings on the face of the planet because these guys can just pull whole new cultures, religions, and universes out of their asses like it was yesterday’s dinner. Mass Effect has a rich, amazing universe attached to it with believable races, characters, religions, and cultures, and it feels like a whole alternate universe that could exist. Mass Effect 2 expands on this for fans of the original (yeah, don’t play it unless you played the first, seriously). Not only is this just a direct sequel, but all your actions from the original game affect the outcome of this one. Mass Effect 2 has Command Shepard being remade as a machine almost after the Normandy gets destroyed by collectors. Cerberus fixes you up for 2 years, and now you have to rebuild your team, find your previous ones, and stop the Collectors from destroying the human race and working with the Reapers.

Mass Effect 2 has so many changes that were much-needed, and the game just feels tighter, more fluent, and action-packed. The action is the keyword here since a lot of the mundane RPG elements were stripped. To get an idea of what was improved, I’ll start with squad management. Instead of finding armor for each type of race and maintaining every stat of that armor and the character, you no longer manage your team’s armor, just yours. You also no longer have to go find armor like the original. Armor can be bought from world markets, and you equip each piece in your cabin on the Normandy 2. You can even change the color and scheme of the armor as well as your casual clothes. This is great, and I love it because micromanaging armor in the first game was a real pain. The same goes for weapons. You no longer have to find and add each element to every weapon, like ammo types and add-ons, because those are now gone as well. Instead, you find weapons during missions or in markets. You can equip them via a loadout, and the same goes for your squad.

Let’s talk about the radial menus here. You get three ammo types: cryo, incinerate, and disruptor. Each can be used for certain enemies. Your powers are activated here too, but you can now map them to buttons. When shooting weapons, you no longer have a “heat gauge” but actual ammo. The weapons draw heat to a “clip,” which is discharged once it gets too hot. If you run out of these clips, your weapons won’t fire, thus solving that annoying heat meter crap from the first game. This helps the game feel like a solid shooter instead of a game that doesn’t know if it’s an action game or a straight RPG.

The shooting and fighting in the game are now really solid, and you just feel so powerful with all these guns at your disposal. You can upgrade everything (including your ship, and this has outcomes during the last mission) by finding research projects while on missions. This solves all the RPG elements from the last game, so it feels like a solid shooter. Don’t get too upset; there are still RPG elements, but they are only for upgrading your teammates and yourself. Instead of upgrading every single element, such as each ammo type and every biotic type, you only have about 4–6 traits to upgrade. This includes your main character’s ability, biotic or ammo types, and any other special skill. Each one can be upgraded up to level 4, and after that, you get a choice between two special bonus perks. This makes the leveling feel more solid, fluid, and resourceful.

Another great improvement is the galaxy map navigation. No longer are you just a cursor floating around the map, but you actually move your ship. When you are outside solar systems traveling in dead space on the map, you use fuel, but the biggest improvement is no more excavating resources via the stupid rover vehicle. In fact, all vehicle control has been stripped from the game. Instead, you use a scanner on unexplored planets, and when the controller vibrates, you will see your meter spike over a certain gauge. This will be one of the five resources used to upgrade things in the game. While it sounds more repetitive, it’s nice to break up the action of the game and get some downtime.

If those don’t sound like enough of an improvement, how about the story? The story is still as epic and emotionally engrossing as the first, if not more so. There are a couple of new races added, such as the vorcha, drell, and batarians. There are new characters that you can recruit, and they are all as loveable and memorable as in the first game. Of course, all your old pals return, but my favorite part about the game, which isn’t in any other, is how your original save carries over.

If you had a relationship with a previous mate, you will see that in the game, saving and killing certain characters from the past will pop up in the sequel, reflecting certain outcomes of missions. If you chose the renegade or paragon path, it will reflect off your character with red scars and reddened eyes if you were a badass. You truly feel like you were dead for two years, and all your choices in the past came back to haunt you. It’s a mind-trip, and it really makes you that much more involved in the story. Every choice you make during dialogs affects what you do, and BioWare is the master of this.

The only reason why this one scores lower than the original is that most of this has been seen in the original and isn’t anything new for fans of Mass Effect. The new additions just keep the score really high but don’t give us that new feeling. With improved graphics and the same amazing voice acting, Mass Effect 2 will keep fans busy for a good 25–30 hours, but watch what you do because it will affect your outcome in Mass Effect 3.

BUYING A NEW COPY: This will grant you access to a free content update that’s normally $15 for free. This includes a new character, Zaeed, and two other missions that involve the crash of Normandy. While this update is not worth $15, buying a new copy makes you feel like you’re truly getting your money’s worth.

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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Dragonborn

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 06/04/2013

Posted in: DLC, Microsoft, PC Reviews, PlayStation 3, Retro Consoles, Sony, Steam Deck Playable, Steam Deck Verification, Xbox 360. Tagged: bethesda, dlc, dragonborn, expansion, first person, Microsoft, miraak, pc, playstation, ps3, rpg, skyrim, Sony, the elder scrolls v, Xbox 360. Leave a comment

Publisher: Bethesda Softworks

Developer: Bethesda Game Studios

Release Date: 2/5/2013

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The splashing of waves, the grass between your toes, the ash in your eyes, and Dunmer at your feet. Ah, it’s nice to be back in Morrowind! I was surprised when I found out Dragonborn took place on Solstheim, which is a volcanic island just off the coast of Morrowind. You arrive there due to a strange, occult thing happening. People are building relics in their sleep—basically, sleepwalking and building. You ask around about a guy named Miraak, and people say he sounds familiar, but they can’t quite remember. As you ask around in the main city, Raven Rock, you will be greeted by Devin Mallory’s brother and various other people who are very interesting to talk to.

I first have to mention that Dragonborn has some of the best art in any Elder Scrolls game. When you start getting the Black Books and travel to Apocrypha (Hermaes Mora’s territory), you will be stunned. It’s very Lovecraftian with the Lurker and Seeker enemies. There are strange tunnels that move, walls made of sticks, floors covered in paper with arcane writing, and strange magic and objects. I loved these areas and enjoyed them immensely. However, the main quest line is super short; there are more side quests here, which is good, I guess. The final fight with Miraak (not a spoiler, it’s obvious) is very challenging, and you get to ride freaking dragons! This is probably the most powerful thing added to an Elder Scrolls game. I love the new shouts, such as Bend Will. This will make enemies fight alongside you. The new Bonemold and Chitin armor looks awesome, as do some new weapons. There’s quite a bit here, a nice chunk of the game, and a great final goodbye to Skyrim.

Many of the quests are more puzzle-related and quite challenging. It was nice to be really challenged by exploration in Dragonborn. One final quest has you finding cubes in an old Dwemer ruin. You have to place them in a certain order and run around finding them to open up new parts. The enemies are challenging, and I found it all quite fun. There’s plenty of Morrowind lore here for longtime fans and newcomers who don’t know much about it.

I warn you, though, that you need to be at least level 20 to start this. I came in at level 7 and got my butt handed to me by the Ash Spawn, the first enemies you will encounter. I died in just one hit, so be careful. I also hated how there was no place to train for smithing, and there was only one major town. At least you can fast travel to and from Skyrim via the map and not by boat every time. I was also upset that you didn’t get to ride dragons until the final quest, and it’s very brief. Also, be warned: Miraak will steal all your dragon souls if you kill dragons in Solstheim. He’s a real bastard.

Overall, Dragonborn is a solid and final DLC for Skyrim. It is much better than Dawnguard in the sense that the story is more interesting, but there aren’t two sides to play. Being able to ride dragons is a major addition to the game; the enemies are interesting and challenging; the art looks fantastic; and the lore is great.

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Keyboard & Mouse

Injustice: Gods Among Us

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 05/30/2013

Posted in: Android, iOS, Microsoft, Mobile Reviews, Nintendo, PC Reviews, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Retro Consoles, Sony, Sony Consoles, Steam Deck Unsupported, Steam Deck Verification, Wii U, Xbox 360. Tagged: comics, DC, fighting, gods among us, injustice, Microsoft, mortal kombat, netherrealm, Nintendo, playstation, playstation 3, ps3, Sony, warner bros, wii u, Xbox 360. Leave a comment

Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Developer: NetherRealm Studios

Release Date: 4/16/2013

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Marvel vs. Capcom is considered the official fighting game among Marvel fans. What about DC comics? There really hasn’t been a full-on fighting game except for the lukewarm Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. It felt a bit stiff; Mortal Kombat fans felt the violence was too watered down, and it just lacked some polish. The MK team has come back, minus Mortal Kombat, and created a very solid, full-on DC fighting game.

If you have played 2011’s Mortal Kombat reboot, you will be very familiar with this game. The 2D fighting plane remains with interactive environments, special moves, and various other things. The game plays a lot like Mortal Kombat, with several special moves and small combos at your disposal. You must combine all these to create larger combos; it’s tough and really takes some practice. Some characters are harder to play than others, but they are all fun to play in their own way. The interactive environments are very neat, and I hope more fighting games pick up on them. You can press R near different objects, and some are on offense while others are on defense. In Batman’s Bat Cave, you can press a giant red button to ignite the batmobile’s thrusters and burn your opponent. Some items can be picked up and thrown. Some levels have items at the very edges to help you escape and keep you from getting cornered.

The fighting engine is solid and responsive. Each character looks great and has an awesome arsenal of moves that are faithful to their comic origins. Each character has a special power-up they have that is executed with A. No longer are there four attack buttons, but three. Wonder Woman can use her power-up to switch between her sword and whip. Batman can shoot three batarangs, while some characters have defensive and passive power-ups. These have to recharge, of course, so they can’t be spammed. They are helpful and can give you a slight edge over your opponent. The power meter returns, like in Mortal Kombat, but is used for different things. Instead of the gory X-ray moves, you can unleash super-special attacks that look awesome. Some are a little less awesome than others, but they all take advantage of the power that each character wields. You can also use the Clash system, which allows you to wager part of your special meter once per battle for extra health. These are all tactical additions that can give you an edge and turn the tide of the battle, which a lot of fighting games don’t have.

The fighting system takes a little while to get used to because it’s unlike anything else out there. It breaks the mold of traditional fighting games, which the genre desperately needs. Injustice has some of the best over-the-top action seen in a fighting game, thanks to the source material. Blood and gore are exchanged for comic book action, which you can’t get anywhere else. I also like how NetherRealm made Aquaman cool again. He looks awesome, and he’s one of my favorite fighters. He feels a lot like Jade from Mortal Kombat, where he whips his trident around a lot and is quick and jabby. I just wish they didn’t use so many obscure comic characters like Sinestro, Grundy, Black Adam, Raven, and various others. I also wish the roster was a bit bigger. At least it makes up for it in content elsewhere.

The first thing you will dive into is the story. Unlike Mortal Kombat, you won’t fight like every character in the game. I was also highly disappointed in the story because it’s just a pointless mess. Superman is tricked by the Joker to kill Lois Lane, and this causes some sort of rift, and everyone crosses dimensions. Superman, on the other hand, wants to take over the world and suppress everyone, so everyone is fighting their doppelgangers, which is kind of uninteresting. The plot is just a bunch of DC characters beating each other up, and it doesn’t really come to a head. I was glad that the story was as short as it was and was just over. It seems the story was kind of slapped together and wasn’t given much thought; DC fans will be highly disappointed in it.

After you finish that, you can go online or partake in the 240 S.T.A.R. Lab missions that are similar to the Challenge Tower in Mortal Kombat. Go to the Archives to unlock alternate costumes (not enough!), battle mutators, and concept art. This is similar to the Krypt in Mortal Kombat but doesn’t quite offer enough.

Overall, Injustice is a very solid fighter that tries to break the mold but offers a weak story mode, and the game just feels like it’s missing something. Is it because it feels so close to Mortal Kombat that everyone is expecting fatalities or something similar? Is it that the roster isn’t big enough? Too many lesser-known characters? I can’t really say, but I can’t quite place my finger on it either. What’s here is great, not to mention that the Wii U gamepad can be used to play the game off the TV or used as a display for special moves. The game does look good, with the Wii U getting higher resolution textures and some nicer lighting effects than the PS3 and 360 versions. The Wii U version is definitely the best of the three. With that said, there are dozens of hours of content here, and you will be playing for months.

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Mass Effect – 6 Years Later

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 05/28/2013

Posted in: Microsoft, PC Reviews, PlayStation 3, Retro Consoles, Sony, Steam Deck Playable, Steam Deck Verification, Xbox 360. Tagged: bioware, mass effect, Microsoft, rpg, shooter, xbox, Xbox 360. Leave a comment

Publisher: Microsoft

Developer: BioWare

Release Date: 11/20/2007

Available On

Where should I begin? Well, let’s start with the story. You play (put the first name here) Shepard, who is a US Navy Alliance officer and tries to work his or her rank up the galactic ladder. A Turian named Saren tries to unleash a supposed extinct alien race that’s older than time itself. Can you stop him in time while uncovering the past? With that out of the way, let’s start with the presentation. Mass Effect has some of the best graphics, sound, voice acting, and production values of any game I’ve ever seen next to Gears of War (courtesy of Microsoft’s bank account). The game is packed with tons of extremely detailed textures and models, remarkable never-before-seen character animations, and BioWare’s next-gen dialog engine.

Just like any BioWare game (KotOR, Jade Empire), you decide the fate of the game through your interactions with people. You can intimidate them, charm them, or just plain use force. With the dozens of alien races and characters you’ll encounter, there are limitless possibilities. The game has third-person gunplay mixed with role-playing elements. You can upgrade your character through an easy-to-use upgrade menu, where you can upgrade tons of stats and attributes. You also have powers that you can use. Along with you are two other squad members of your choosing, and you can give them simple orders. You can hack objects to obtain new weapon upgrades, different types of ammo, and even more armor. There are even a few vehicle sessions as well, and this helps mix up the gameplay.

You travel around by using the mass effect relay system, which can shoot you throughout the galaxy. You can travel to different worlds to collect different types of resources, complete side missions, and more. While all this is wonderful, the game does have some major issues. The frame rate can never keep up. It’s always skipping and chugging, and there’s a constant texture pop-up as well. There are also random load times every so often. The game is also very short for BioWare standards, ending in about 15-20 hours, and with all side missions (about a dozen), maybe 25–30. While there is no co-op or online play, the game is still fun, very cinematic, and a wonderful masterpiece.

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Crysis 3

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 05/25/2013

Posted in: Microsoft, PC Reviews, PlayStation 3, Retro Consoles, Sony, Steam Deck Unsupported, Steam Deck Verification, Xbox 360. Tagged: cryengine 3, crysis 3, crytek, directx 11, dx11, ea, fps, Microsoft, multiplayer, pc, playstation, ps3, shooter, Sony, Xbox 360. Leave a comment

Publisher: EA

Developer: Crytek

Release Date: 2/19/2013

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Have you upgraded your graphics card? Need a new CPU? How about some more RAM? You’re going to need it with the revolutionary CryEngine 3 that powers Crysis 3. Graphics are the first thing that people think of when a new Crysis game comes out, and will their rig run it? Note to console gamers: The PS3 and 360 versions don’t even come close to the maxed-out DirectX 11 version on PC. It looks great on consoles, pushes them to the max, but looks like crap compared.

You are Prophet, or Lawrence Barnes. The story picks up right after Crysis 2, where the Alpha Ceph is trying to harvest and annihilate all of mankind. It’s up to your and the ex-nano suit-wearing Psycho to stop them. You have the help of the rag-tag rebel resistance, which is all but helpless without you. The first thing that Crysis 3 fixes is the linearity and confinement of the city. It’s a mix of both here. It’s not as open as Crysis 1, but you have large open areas where you can decide if you want to go stealth or shoot everyone up. You can use your visor to tag enemies, which is one of the best tactical elements you have in the game. This time around, you can upgrade your nanosuit by giving yourself longer cloaking time, dampening bullets, increasing stealth kill damage, and various other things. You can still customize your weapons, and there are quite a few of them.

The best addition to Crysis 3 is the tech bow. This thing is just awesome and lets you kill people without reducing your energy for cloaking. You can choose your draw strength and ammo type. Each arrow is an instant kill and feels satisfying. You can also hack this time around, so an enemy turret can wipe out a small force for you while you hide. These small things make Crysis much more enjoyable than the near bore-fest of Crysis 2. The game was solid but lacking in gameplay elements. The hacking, tech bow, and upgraded tactical visor really make the game more intense and fun. The AI is also improved, and the game is much harder. Towards the end of the game, I was dying left and right. The new Ceph enemies are tough as nails, but by the end, you get to feel the ultimate power of the nano suit. By the end of the game, you can supercharge your nanosuit and become invincible for short periods of time. Don’t think this is cheating, it feels great after sneaking around and feeling vulnerable all the time.

When it comes to the story, you will be completely lost if you haven’t been following along; even people who have will be a bit lost. The story doesn’t really add anything or make it more interesting. Honestly, I had no idea what was happening half the time, and I played all the games. The story has a lot of potential but just isn’t fleshed out like it could have been. At least there are some more scripted cinematic events that are part of why Crysis 2 was boring. There still isn’t enough, though. After a while, you feel like you are just trudging through wave after wave of Ceph and Cell troops.

The multiplayer is a little more fun, but not something you will come back to a year from now. Multiplayer is solid, but it isn’t much different from the second game. Honestly, after Crytek pretty much abandoned Crysis 2 shortly after its release, I really don’t want to devote much time to multiplayer. At least the game only had a few bugs and has more graphics settings, unlike the second game. The graphics are freaking amazing, with water tessellation, ambient occlusion, SSAA, and various other DX11 effects. Even with everything set to low, it still looks pretty damn good. There is no DX9 mode, though; it is strictly DX11 on PC, so make sure you have a GPU that supports it.

Overall, Crysis 3 adds just enough to make it feel really solid and go out with a bang. There are a few fun scripted moments, the tech bow is awesome, and the graphics will blow you away, but in the end, it doesn’t do a whole lot different from Crysis 2.

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Keyboard & Mouse

PDP Afterglow Motion Controller with Motion Plus

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 05/25/2013

Posted in: Hardware, Nintendo, Retro Consoles, Wii, Wii U. Tagged: afterglow, controller, motion plus, Nintendo, pdp, third party, wii, wii u. Leave a comment

Manufacturer: PDP

Release Date: 1/30/2013

Colors: Red, Green, Blue

MSRP: $29.99

After buying a Wii U, you will need controllers with Wii Motion Plus in them. For $10 less, you can get these, which are pretty well designed, and I like them a lot. PDP makes great products, and these are no exception. The Afterglow products look cool because they have colored LEDs and transparent cases. I also like the new layout for the controller. The + and – buttons are on the extreme sides of the remote above a. 1 and 2 are diagonally placed, so your thumb doesn’t hit both all the time when holding the remote horizontally. I just found the home button a little hard to press because it is inset with the power button at the top.

The LEDs are bright and vibrant and look cool in the dark. The remote feels solid and sturdy, not cheap like some Wii peripherals. It comes with a strap as well, so the whole package is here. It will fit any rechargeable battery, but it’s a bit tight. One thing you really have to look out for on third-party controllers is the quality of the buttons. They press nicely and give good feedback. I just found the speaker to be a bit quieter than the official ones, and the vibration is a bit softer as well. This is a minor issue, but it still feels nice and is a great product. For $10 less, you get cool LEDs, better button placement, and a solid-feeling controller.

Nintendo Land

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 05/23/2013

Posted in: Nintendo, Retro Consoles, Wii U. Tagged: mini games, multiplayer, nintendo land, wii u. Leave a comment

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Nintendo

Release Date: 11/18/2012

Available Exclusively On

Everyone knows that Nintendo usually offers some sort of software to get you used to and familiar with their new console. The Wii had Wii Sports, the DS had Brain Training, and the Wii U had the very beefy Nintendo Land. This is a game that features a hub that interacts with the Miiverse and has doors to mini-games. Like Mario Party, this game is best played by other people. The AI is pretty dumb and unfair, and it is just completely boring by itself.

nintendo land the legend of zelda battle quest image

There are mini-games that feature pretty much every Nintendo franchise. One is an Animal Crossing game that is very competitive and fun. One person controls two dogs on the gamepad while the other players run around using Wiimotes to collect candy. If you play with one other person, they must put 15 pieces in dishes; if it’s two or more other people, they must collectively get candy and keep it with them. They have to work together because the more you have, the slower you run. This game seems unfair at first for the gamepad player because you run slower and your tackles don’t go very far. It takes practice and skill to tactically corner the Wiimote players and get them. Some of these mini-games have a face-camera feature because you can’t look up at the TV; it’s cheating. When you look up, the Wiimote players will know and can pummel you accordingly.

The best mini-game is the Zelda Battle Quest. This one is the biggest and has ten full levels. The gamepad player is an archer, and the Wiimote players are swordsmen. You must get through the on-rails levels without dying, but you all share a pool of health. It’s really fun, and the Wii Motion Plus makes Link’s sword motion 1:1, so it feels responsive and fluid. Another mini-game, probably the second biggest, is the Metroid one. The gamepad player is a spaceship, while the Wiimote players are Samus. It’s pretty much a deathmatch game and is really fun. The controls are great, and it can get really intense.

There are a lot of unbalanced and unfair mini-games here—too many. The Luigi’s Mansion one has the gamepad player as a ghost and the Wiimote players as the catchers. The problem is that the levels are way too small. There’s not enough room to run around, which can be unfair to too many people. My least favorite is Mario Chase. The gamepad player is way too fast; it’s nearly impossible to catch them, and it’s also really boring with uninspired and lame levels. The second most unfair is the Pikmin game. The arenas are way too small, and the gamepad player has an unfair advantage by being able to throw their Pikmin at the Wiimote player, so the Wiimote player has no distance attacks.

There are also some single-player mini-games, but one person can assist with the Wiimote, making things easier. My favorite is the DK Crash Course. You look at the gamepad and have to tilt your car through an obstacle course. The Wiimote player can press A, and a bubble will form around you, slowing you down. Another one is the Fruit Cart game. You must draw a line on your gamepad to the fruit that appears on the screen. The Wiimote player can get one fruit for you automatically.

As you can see, there’s a lot here, but there really aren’t any rewards. You get coins that are used on a Plinko-type mini-game that spits out prizes, but these just clutter your theme park and are pointless. My favorite feature of all is the train. It’s basically a championship mode that gives everyone a try at the gamepad, and that user can challenge other Wiimote players, or the gamepad gets passed around. It’s really fun and exciting, and it brings everyone together. I just wish these games could be played online. Why, Nintendo, are you so stuck in the past? The Wii U has online capabilities, and yet its games aren’t online, except for the Miiverse.

The game looks really good, but overall it’s lacking in online play and rewards. There are too many unfair and unbalanced mini-games that just aren’t any fun. For a packed-in game with the Wii U, it’s pretty beefy and very fun, but I wouldn’t go out and throw $60 down on this game.

Mario Party 9

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 05/23/2013

Posted in: Nintendo, Retro Consoles, Wii. Tagged: mario party, mario party 9, multiplayer, Nintendo, wii. Leave a comment

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Nd Cube

Release Date: 3/11/2012

Available Exclusively On

I can’t believe this series has gone on for this long. It was a super-fun game back on the Nintendo 64 and continues to be so. The great thing about Mario Party is that it doesn’t fix what’s not broken. People love this game for its competitive nature and super-fun mini-games. Mario Party 9’s mini-games are pretty solid and some of the best yet; they just lack content.

The game consists of about seven boards, but instead of everyone moving around individually, you’re all stuck in a vehicle. This makes things fun because you are all heading in the same direction, and one person can decide everyone’s fate. The boards are fun and offer a lot of variety. Bowser’s Space Station has a jackpot and jackpot spaces. If you land on a mini-star space, it adds to the jackpot. If the jackpot reaches 20 mini-stars, a mini-game is thrown at you to determine who gets them. There are mini-bosses in each level, traps, hazards, and other fun things on each board. Blooper Beach has two islands that consist of negative stars and mini-stars. You are stuck on this six-space island until someone lands on the space to get out. Everyone loses stars or gains them until that happens. This is what I mean by saying that one person can decide someone’s fate. It’s like going on an adventure together, and you have to stick together.

However, I wish there were some other boards that allowed individual movement. You can unlock new vehicles with points in the museum, but there’s just not enough variety here. The great thing about having so few boards is that when you memorize them, things get challenging, and you can get really good and have an advantage over your player. With everyone staying together, the person whose turn it is is the captain. There are captain event spaces where that person gets to choose who moves during the board mini-game. It’s really a lot like Monopoly, where one person will be way ahead and then suddenly lose at the end. That’s so great about everyone sticking together, but it does have downsides.

The mini-games are the best part of Mario Party, and there are a lot of them here. They all use the Wiimote in a unique way, and each is different and a blast. Unlike other Mario Party mini-games, very few are unbalanced here. Everyone has a fair advantage, and most require actual skill thanks to Wiimote’s design. Some games have you tapping buttons really fast, shaking, pinching, and grabbing stuff, carefully tilting things around, and many others. Some Bowser boss fights get really fun and challenging, where everyone has to work together sometimes and then against each other during other times. One mini-game has Bowser throwing dice onto the platform. Each side has a player’s face, but one side has Bowser’s. You want your face to show up the most, but not Bowser’s. You have to decide whether to work together or against each other in order to get the most attack points.

A real big letdown is that there’s no online play. This game is really only fun with other people and is completely boring for you. It’s great to relax with, but the AI is usually cheap and not fun to play mini-games against. I also wish there were other characters, boards, and more extras for the $50 price tag. The graphics look great; there’s just a lot of aliasing, which is to be expected with the ancient Wii hardware. If you have a lot of friends with whom you play games at home, this is a must-have.