Bayonetta 2

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 04/06/2020
Posted in: Nintendo, Nintendo Consoles, Retro Consoles, Switch, Wii U. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Platinum Games, Inc.

Release Date: 02/16/2018


Available On

It was strange that Nintendo would pick up an M-rated property, especially one that is as sexualized and gory as Bayonetta. The original game put Platinum Games on the map as a great hack and slash developer. The game was bombastic, fun, hard, fast-paced, and very memorable. The flashy combat and memorable personality and style of Bayonetta herself made her one of the most popular and well-known characters of the last generation.

Bayonetta 2 tries to capitalize on that, but on Nintendo’s home consoles. Thankfully, none of the sex appeal or gore has been toned down, which is a huge shock and was what most people were expecting—more of a teen-rated experience or heavily censored. What we get is the same sexiness, blood, and guts as the original. Now, I was never a huge fan of Bayonetta’s story, which is a bit convoluted. I didn’t quite understand the story until towards the end, but Bayonetta is an Umbran Witch who is the Left Eye of God, and the Right Eyes (Lunar Witches) are part of some sort of prophecy. The Aesir God is trying to destroy humans (it’s heavily Norse-based), and Bayonetta is trying to stop said God from doing so. There are a couple of new characters thrown in, but I didn’t care much for the story. It’s a confusing mess, honestly.

What’s great, though, is the combat, and there’s plenty of it. Light and heavy attacks combined with a ranged attack make for some of the best combat on this side of Devil May Cry. Bayonetta is so agile and looks so good bouncing around on the screen, and the controls are incredibly responsive. The key to the battles is the Witch Time dodge mechanic that’s used right before enemies strike. It’s so satisfying to get into a rhythm of slowing down for a couple of seconds and attacking. Each enemy has its own attack pattern, and you quickly learn when to dodge and slow downtime to build up your witch time, which is then triggered to unleash heavy attacks. This tight combat system isn’t very deep, but it’s hard to master, especially with new moves to purchase. I found myself noticing that you must master this dodge technique or you won’t get very far. It’s the only way to really dodge attacks., but because you have to heavily rely on it, that forces you to master it, which can make it a core part of the combat system.

The combat goes a little further with torture attacks that are optional instead of unleashing your Umbran attack. These are small, quick-time events and awesomely brutal death scenes for the demons and angels. Bosses have their own unique torture attack that triggers at the end of battles. Speaking of bosses, I have to say I think there are too many here. Almost every level is either a boss only or consists of multiple bosses, from main to mini-bosses. I also think that for the short length of the game, there are too many enemies here. A new enemy is introduced at nearly every level, and they don’t really mix them up much. With so many new enemies, you just start to learn their attack patterns, and you may never see them again outside of the mini-bosses.

Outside of combat, Bayonetta doesn’t do much. The levels are highly linear, with only one way to really go. You can explore a couple of side paths for hidden items that unlock costumes, weapons, and more. There are Muspelheim missions, which are challenges spread throughout the game that grant Moon Pearls (Witch Time upgrades) and hearts (life upgrades). There are memory challenges that require you to gather pieces of a chest before time runs out, and these are nice little distractions. There are a couple of levels that have you power a mech and fly a plane, but they are short and not sprinkled in enough. The game doesn’t feel as varied as the first one, and I quickly found myself just mowing down boss after boss, waiting for something new to happen.

I loved unlocking Nintendo-themed costumes, mixing up my weapons to create a unique playstyle, and watching Bayonetta never gets dull, but it just didn’t feel as memorable as the first game; something felt off. It somehow felt too repetitive towards the end, and I became exhausted with the onslaught of bosses, with some repeating multiple times throughout the game. There are co-op Witch Trials, which are nice and all, but the core game just doesn’t feel as memorable despite how great it is.

The game looks amazing, though, and is still one of the best-looking Switch games to date. The framerate is up there at 60 or close to it with no slowdowns. Textures and models look fantastic, and the art style is just beautiful and really makes Bayonetta stand out on its own artistically. I did feel some environments kind of blurred together, but overall, it’s a treat to look at. Bayonetta 2 remains one of the best games on Switch, and hack and slash games of this caliber are far and few.

Reviewed On

Pokemon Sword/Shield

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 03/31/2020
Posted in: Nintendo Consoles, Switch. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Game Freak

Release Date: 11/15/2019


Available Exclusively On

 

I just want to start with a simple fact: I’m not the biggest Pokemon fan. I grew up with Pokemon in the late 90’s and early 2000s and stopped caring around Gen 3 when I was about 12–13 years old. I followed Pokemon afterward, but the card collecting and anime watching had pretty much stopped. My wife, on the other hand, continues to be a huge Pokemon fan to this day. This is actually the first Pokemon game I have ever finished, including getting the legendary Pokemon. It was a chore, I will admit. It was enjoyable sometimes, and other times I put the game away for a couple of months. It was kind of exciting, then sometimes just plain boring. So, this review isn’t coming from a raging fanboy or a complete hater, so hopefully this review will help people on the fence.

I’ve played nearly every other game in the series, but not for long. I love the idea of running around a world catching monsters, but the problem is that the series falls under 30-year-old JRPG tropes that still haven’t really gone away. My biggest hate with JRPGs, in general, is random battles. I feel they are time fillers—something to pad an extra 50 hours onto a 30-hour adventure. I want to explore more, and these random battles prevent that when they’re happening every 5–10 seconds. It makes me want to give up, and I usually won’t play JRPGs with random battles. Sword/Shield has gotten rid of that with Pokemon that can be seen in the grass and random encounters that show up like exclamation marks and something following you in the grass. Yes, Pokemon are still confined to water and grass. That solves that major issue, which made exploring more enjoyable.

When you explore the routes, wild areas, and towns, there are random items scattered throughout, such as berries, candies, DMs (moves), and various items. You can ride a bike to get around faster, and you can also fast-travel to newly discovered areas, which is a godsend. This makes trying to go to certain regions much faster and simpler. Wild areas consist of level ranges, and now that a weather system is in place, you get certain Pokemon in certain weather systems for each area. Now, I had to run the system clock around to get to the month when I started wanting specific Pokemon. It’s actually quite fun to go around widdling down health and catching these guys and building up your Pokedex; that’s the entire point of the game.

Now the game had a lot of controversy by not having the full Pokedex of every game prior plus the new ones. It just has a grab bag of some from each generation. For someone like me, it doesn’t matter outside of the first three generations of Pokemon. I also found that older Pokemon were messed with, and their looks and types were changed, like Rapidash, Mr. Mime, and Ponyta. I’m not really a fan of all this switching around, but it’s not hard to get used to.

Battles are one of the main components of the game, and they look nice. I’ll give the game that; seeing these guys in crisp 3D models is great, but the Pokemon battle system is something I’ve grown tired of. I’m sick of all the long animations to get into the battle and all the dialogue boxes that pop up. I know most JRPGs are like this, but this is a 30-year-old trope that needs to change already. Some battles feel like they take longer only because of how little input I’m actually giving. When you introduce something like Dyna and Gigamax Pokemon that can grow to the size of buildings and do massive damage, I start to feel this is just filler and nothing that adds anything. These are literally just giant Pokemon that have powerful moves. It never turned the tide of a battle because either I knocked a Dyna-mon out in one hit or I could change too.

The strategy behind Pokemon battling is weakness. It’s grown more complicated over the years with additions like fighting, fairy, ghost, steel, etc. I had to sometimes look up weaknesses online to make sure I didn’t waste a move on some boss battles. These were the most challenging in the game, but I never died once in my entire playthrough. Sure, there were some cheap shots, but I always managed to pull through, with most of my Pokemon knocking out opponents in one hit. I could chew through an entire gym’s leader’s stack with just one Pokemon. The balancing is really off compared to other JRPGs, with it being overly easy or unfair. I wound up sometimes with Pokemon that my enemy was not weak against. You always want super-effective moves, and thankfully, once you’ve battled that Pokemon, you can see which moves will work against it and which won’t, which is super handy.

The visuals are another disappointing feature. They don’t really wow me in any way. They look like HD 3DS graphics and have the same bland anime RPG style that most other games have. It looks decent enough, but I just wanted this game to be the big game-changer that it wasn’t. The dynamaxing, wild areas, and overall small additions didn’t add anything new but gave us the same experience in a slightly tweaked way. At least the menus are more simplified, but things like a cooking mini-game and being able to play with the Pokemon by petting them just don’t add to the experience. I felt bored most of the time because of how little player input there is, and I haven’t even gotten to the story.

Pokemon has never had an interesting story; Sword and Shield are no exception. It’s just something to make an excuse for dialog, which, by the way, is another 30-year-old JRPG trope; you can’t skip the cut scenes. The first 2 hours of the game drag because it treats you like you’re stupid. With so many tutorials and drawn-out animations, cut-scenes, and dialogue, each Pokemon game is a chore just to start. It should ask you if you have played a Pokemon game before and just want to learn the new features, but they always have to integrate it into a story with dialogue and cut scenes. I honestly can’t really explain the story that much because I don’t care. You’re trying to become the Pokemon Champion, and some bad people get in the way to steal the legendaries away like in every other game. Characters have no substance or appeal, and there’s no reason to care for them.

Overall, Pokemon is a game that you either love or hate, and somehow I got lucky enough to be stuck in the middle. It suffers from issues in the series that have never been addressed such as the lack of player input, boring battles, story, and characters. I want to care about the world I’m in not just my favorite Pokemon; it has to be more than that for the investment. I want to see a visual change; stop making battles more complicated and make them more interesting. Can we go after something besides badges? It’s a fine game and is done very well, but as a jaded Pokemon veteran, the series has just stretched itself too thin.

Batman: The Enemy Within – The Telltale Series – Shadows Edition

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 03/14/2020
Posted in: Android, iOS, Mac, Microsoft Consoles, Mobile Reviews, Nintendo Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 4, Sony Consoles, Steam Deck Unsupported, Steam Deck Verification, Switch, Xbox One. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

Publisher: Athlon Games, Inc.

Developer: LCG Entertainment, Inc.

Release Date: 12/17/2019


Available On

The superhero video game renaissance all started with Batman. After the Hollywood superhero films grew up and became an epic universe taking over the entire industry, the video game versions feel a little more nuanced and personable. Rocksteady really hit it off with the Batman: Arkham series, and the game just got better from there. Telltale took the storytelling of superhero comics and turned it into an epic original story.

The Enemy Within follows right after the end of the first game, with Bruce having defeated Lady Arkham, The Penguin, and Catwoman. The Enemy Within feels more epic, has a larger overarching story, and has more villains in place. We get Bane, Riddler, Harley Quinn, The Joker, and Mr. Freeze all wrapped up in one big Batman package. The story from Telltale is one of the most unique and interesting I have seen in the Batman universe to date. It feels tightly knit and has resolution at the end instead of spiraling out of control into a million different spin-offs. Main characters can die, and Batman can even break his own code if you choose.

This game is probably one of the only Telltale adventure games that cuts out all the fat from the choices part of the game. Even the dialogue option has meaning and makes a difference towards the end goal. There are larger moments that can turn the story around and fewer twists and surprises in this game, but the overall story is a slow burn rather than starting and stopping as in the first game. Some episodes are slower-paced, sometimes too slow, and this game really has too few action sequences and mini-games for my taste. I like the story, but some of the cut scenes can be nearly 20 minutes long with very little input. Again, this is another “interactive movie” with very little gameplay outside of some quick-time events and even less puzzle solving.

What we get is an origin story that doesn’t go too far back. We get to see how The Joker became insane and hated Batman, how Harley became a psycho herself, and how the relationship between Batman and Catwoman grows or falls apart depending on how you play. We also get to see how Riddler became the way he did, and one thing I need to point out is that this game feels more like it can happen in today’s world. Less magic and fantasy stuff from the villains. Everything looks and feels like it can be explained somehow in today’s world, which I love. All the villains are just normal humans with a slight scientific twist to them.

I will say we don’t really get a backstory on Bane or Mr. Freeze. Mr. Freeze isn’t used all that much, and Bane is just an annoying bully through the whole thing. We do get a new entity called The Agency, which is an original faction used in the game to counterbalance The Pact (all the villains), and it’s up to you to decide how The Agency is towards Batman. Amanda Waller is a love-or-hate kind of character and mostly one-dimensional, but we get to see Lucius Fox’s daughter Tiffany, and the game eventually plays into the psychological aspect of Joker and Batman’s relationship like the comics do.

At the end of the day, we really feel like we know Batman, Alfred, Joker, and Harley all too well. Telltale did an amazing job of getting you inside their heads and making you really feel like you’re controlling Bruce’s fate and story. While the game is too light on gameplay and a little slow-paced, I couldn’t stop playing as I wanted to see what happened next. I really weighed my choices and felt that at the end, everything from the first game to the end of this one was satisfying and meaningful. This is clearly the best Batman game to play if you want an amazing story.

The Shadows Edition adds some enhanced visuals, better textures, lighting, and a noir style that I played the game in that makes everything black and white except certain colors like red, green, and various accents of the character’s iconic colors. The game’s upgrades look great, and I didn’t run into any bugs like I usually do with Telltale games.

Reviewed On

Xbox One S Controller

Halo: Reach – 10 Years Later

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 02/23/2020
Posted in: Microsoft, Microsoft Consoles, PC Reviews, Retro Consoles, Steam Deck Unsupported, Steam Deck Verification, Xbox 360, Xbox One. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Publisher: Xbox Game Studios

Developer: 343 Industries

Release Date: 12/03/2019, 09/14/2010 (X360)


Available On

It was a brave move to move the Halo franchise away from Master Chief’s point of view. After the success of ODST, Bungie continued this move with a prequel to the original game and how Cortana was discovered. You play as a ragtag team of elite soldiers, and you play as the Noble Six. The funny thing about Noble Six is that he is basically a nobody, and you witness the deaths and heroisms of your fellow squadmates and search for the last hope of humanity.

The game plays and feels exactly like Halo 3, which is a good thing. The game has many of the same weapons and power-ups as Halo 3 as well. The game has a decent length of nine levels, and the progression is well done. Each level takes place in a new area, so I never felt bored like I did in ODST. From outdoor areas with sweeping vistas to tight and controlled corridors, The game is fast-paced, hectic, and a lot of fun. I felt it was less difficult than previous games and much more balanced. I was able to quickly get a feel for my favorite weapons and the ebb and flow of the gunplay and enemies.

Again, the same enemies in Halo 3 exist here, and with the introduction of the Brutes from Halo 3, they make for a formidable foe and some of the toughest in the game. There are a few flying creatures, and I found there was less vehicle combat in this game than in any others in the series. Most of the game is on foot, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Most objectives will require you to activate or defend something, and this was typical for FPS games back in the day, but it never felt old. Halo has this magical formula of great AI, enemy balance, and knowing when and where to use each weapon. You know what situations call for which weapons, and when you see the weapon, you go for it, and when the situation flips, you know when to drop it and go for another. I know in tight corridors I want a shotgun, so I drop the pistol and pick up an energy rifle, as a scoped weapon is useless. When I run out of ammo, I know there is an alien equivalent lying around, which is great.

Reach just really isn’t much different than Halo 3 or any game before or after it. It’s a solid game with one of the better campaigns in the series, and the multiplayer is rock solid. With this being a spin-off, you’re expected to see asset flips and familiar gameplay, but the shift from Master Chief is what makes it feel a little fresh. With the update for The Master Chief Collection, the game has better visuals, runs at 60+ FPS, and supports ultrawide screens, mice, keyboards, and current-generation hardware. It looks dated, but clean, and feels like a modern shooter does on a PC. I didn’t run into any crashes or major glitches, so it’s a solid port.

I don’t have much else to say other than that it’s a good Halo game. The ending is solid, albeit sad, and sets you up for the main trilogy. I loved Halo 3, so being able to get back into that era of Halo was great, and the upgrades make this a no-brainer for any Halo or FPS fan. If you don’t like Halo, this game will not change your mind at all, as it’s about as rudimentary for the series as it gets, and the story is a little on the light side compared to other games in the series. I didn’t care for any of the characters, and if you aren’t familiar with the future timeline, it won’t make much sense to you.

Reviewed On

Keyboard & Mouse

Bujingai: The Forsaken City – 16 Years Later

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 01/22/2020
Posted in: PlayStation 2, Retro Consoles, Sony. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Publisher: Taito Corporation

Developer: Taito Corporation

Release Date: 07/25/2004


Available Exclusively On

Third-person action games were big on PS2, thanks to games like Devil May Cry. They were some of the largest games you could find on the system, and Bujingai followed that trend. The story is nonsensical and has almost no point. You’re following a former master around who has been possessed by a demon and has taken your girlfriend or something lame like that. Having almost no story isn’t a great way to start a game either.

One of the big draws with this game was the fact that the Japanese rockstar Gackt was involved, and I mean about as involved as showing up and grunting. Advertising someone as big as Gackt was at the time and only having him grunt and shout is a complete waste of talent. He has zero lines of dialogue and probably finished his whole recording session in a few hours. There isn’t even any music by Gackt in here, which is lame. With that said, the game is all about hacking and slashing, and there’s plenty of that.

The game consists of a quick and heavy attack as well as dodging and a defense meter that auto-blocks attacks until the meter is run down. 90% of the regular enemies are brain dead and are a cakewalk to slice through. As enemies die, you acquire orbs, which are used to upgrade various stats. You also have spells that are hidden throughout the levels and can be passive or active. I rarely use these, and most are not that powerful, but the passive attack increase spell wound up being the most useful. Lau, the main character, has some really nice animations, and the game is very flashy, but there are so many flaws that make this game a frustrating nightmare to play.

Something as simple as platforming is bogged down by an awful camera and finicky jumping mechanics. The character jumps in the direction the camera is facing, and the direction can’t be altered mid-air. This led to dozens of minutes just trying to get across a few platforms. You can wall run, glide, and wall jump, but they add to the chore and headache of platforming in this game. The combat solely relies on the lock-on mode, as the camera can’t keep up with the action. This proves extremely annoying during boss fights, and the final nail in the coffin is the uninterruptible animations that cause endless deaths and pointless damage. Lau will spin and slice, but one button press is a series of animations that must be played out before you can even dodge. Even if you time your attacks in between the enemies’ most of the time, you will still take damage because you can’t stop the attack. This also goes for the fall-down animations that take forever, and recovery is just as slow.

The level design is also very bland, with generic Japanese folklore-inspired enemies and repeated bosses. There’s not a soul in this game, as it just feels like a cookie-cutter Japanese game that tried to get sales with Gackt’s name. I honestly didn’t feel like there was any benefit to playing this game the entire time I played, and I couldn’t even finish the game due to how incredibly difficult it ended up being to just fight the animations and camera. I got to the second-to-last boss and had to just give up after 2 hours of trying. It also doesn’t help that orbs aren’t given out often enough to allow you to upgrade fully before reaching the final 8th stage. I like how if you die, you just restart the area you’re in instead of the entire level, but it means nothing if you can’t progress.

As it stands, Bujingai is a forgettable game with almost no point in existing. If you’re itching for a hardcore hack and slash that requires precise timing, then this might be for you, but there isn’t even a decent story to complete, and even Gackt fans have nothing to really gain here.

Syphon Filter 3 – 19 Years Later

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 01/22/2020
Posted in: PlayStation (PS1), Retro Consoles, Sony. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Publisher: SCEA

Developer: Sony Bend

Release Date: 11/06/2001


Available Exclusively On

Gabe and Lian are now federally wanted fugitives and are marked as terrorists after trying to foil the agencies’ plans to acquire the Syphon Filter biological weapon. The game picks up right after the end of Syphon Filter 2. Both agents are testifying to Vince Hadden, the main villain of the previous game, and the entire game is made up of flashback missions filling in gaps for the entire series.

While this is a fine idea, Syphon Filter 3 suffers from a huge flaw, and that’s level design. The clever level design from the last 2 games is out the window here and seriously brings this entire game down. While I liked knowing what happened before the first game during the beginning cut scene with Rhomer and Mara in the jungle and seeing how Gabe, Lian, Mujari, and Teresa all met, the levels don’t do it justice. The issue here is both lazy-level design and over-ambitious design mixed with hardware limitations. This game came out too late and should have been made for the PS2. Levels in this game are large and open and suffer from the black distance and low draw distance from the PS1’s hardware limitations. The level design is incredibly confusing and hard to navigate. One mission as Lian in the Ancient Ruins is just a labyrinth of hallways, and instead of a smooth push through each level, there’s tons of backtracking and running around blindly.

Another issue the game suffers from is too much action. There aren’t really any required stealth missions anymore, and too many enemies are thrown at you at once, as well as a mix of low-ammo resources. I frequently ran out of ammo and had to exploit the game by resorting to headshots when I didn’t have to. The increased enemy count just doesn’t work with the game’s auto-lock-on system. Many times I died because I couldn’t switch between enemies fast enough. Another mission as Gabe has him running around a boat to plant explosives, which is incredibly boring, and one level is so short it only has four enemies in it. I feel like 18 months wasn’t enough time to develop this game and create the fun, clever levels and enemy placements that made the series so popular.

There are no new gameplay elements added this time around, just new weapons. The MARS, Spyder, and AUG3000 (that can see through walls)—and that’s about it. Even these weapons are hard to come by, and you’re left with the same weapons used in the previous two games. I also didn’t care for the multiplayer this time around, and the added mini-games, which are just trial runs, aren’t that fun either. The only really enjoyable part of the game was the final mission, as it felt like a classic Syphon Filter level and the satisfying conclusion to the story for this chapter.

There are no visual improvements outside of better-pre-rendered cut-scenes, and virtually no new gameplay additions or enhancements. Overall, I feel Syphon Filter 3 was a product of rushed development and trying to get it out the door for the PS1 players who hadn’t adopted the PS2 just yet. Is it worth playing? Yes, if you’re a hardcore fan, but just take the game with a grain of salt and be prepared for aimless wandering around levels and many frustrated restarts due to poor enemy placement and a lack of ammo.

Syphon Filter 2 – 20 Years Later

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 01/15/2020
Posted in: PlayStation (PS1), Retro Consoles, Sony. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Publisher: SCEA

Developer: Eidetic

Release Date: 03/14/2000


Available Exclusively On

Syphon Filter is one of my favorite gaming franchises of all time and one of the top five PS1 series. It was the very first serious “adult” game I ever played and got into. Just the concept of how shooters work was totally alien to me before Syphon Filter. It was a game that I also spent a lot of time with my late father, and we aced each game, learning every enemy spawn point, hidden cache, and level design. We rented this game frequently and spent dozens of hours mastering each game. We probably spent more time on Syphon Filter 2 than any other game in the series, and for good measure, it’s the best game out of the three.

Syphon Filter 2 isn’t just an expansion, despite playing and looking exactly like the first game, as there is a greater and more expanded story, more weapons, new levels, and it’s also a couple of hours longer than the first game coming on two discs. You play as both Gabriel Logan and Lian Xing, as you are fugitives of the US government and are still fighting the agency, so get back the data discs that store the Syphon Filter data. The game picks up right where the last one left off when Gabe crashes into the Colorado Rockies. In the first level, the game introduces new weapons and gameplay elements, such as being able to leap gaps. New weapons include the unsilenced 9mm, H-11 sub-machine gun, silenced HK-5, UA12 auto-shotgun, hand taser, flashlight, teargas launcher, and more. These weapons are just as memorable and awesome as the first games. There are so many new weapons here that it nearly doubles the arsenal.

On top of this, there are other gameplay elements added, such as enemies being able to get a headshot on you. The HUD will flash red, and a headshot text will appear on the screen. You have mere seconds to get out of the way, or you will instantly die. New enemies are introduced, such as full-armored ones that only die with explosions in one level towards the end of the game. There is also a better balance of action and stealth with Lian’s levels in the air force base, which are perfect examples. Agents can be killed, but military MPs cannot. You must sneak around and tase the MPs with your hand taser, but the agents are fair game with silenced weapons. Another level has you sneaking around vents, and night vision automatically kicks in when the area is too dark, which is awesome.

The level design is on point, just like in the first game. Each level is memorable and fun and takes you around the globe. From the Colorado Rockies, the first disc mostly takes place in Moscow nightclubs, Agency bio-labs, and New York sewers. The levels are incredibly well designed, with the perfect balance of stealth and action. The train ride is a fun linear shooting gallery, while the bridge level requires quick thinking, stealth, and mastering enemy movement patterns. You can tell Eidetic has mastered this genre with the second game, and even the voice acting has greatly improved. This is an AAA PS1 game at its finest, and you will be hard-pressed to find anything better on the system.

The visuals didn’t really improve any, but they already pushed the system to its limits and still have plenty of detail, and the game looks great. There is some issue with slowdown here and there, but what PS1 game didn’t have that? There’s also a shoehorned multiplayer mode that I didn’t even care for. 1v1 on maps from both Syphon Filter games just isn’t very fun. If the game allowed 2v2 via a multi-tap, that would have been awesome, but what we have here is something just not very fun, and not to mention half the maps need to be unlocked by finding secrets in the game.

Overall, Syphon Filter 2 shows what the PS1 era of games would do and helps push the third-person shooter genre into what it is today. While it came out very late at the end of the system’s life cycle, a mere week before the launch of the PS2, it still sold incredibly well and showed that the PS1 had staying power even after its successor launched. The story, voice acting, visuals, and overall feeling of the game are fantastic, and there’s nothing else like it on the system. It’s a must-own for any PlayStation fan.

2019 Game of the Year Awards Round-Up

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 01/07/2020
Posted in: 2019, Game of the Year Awards. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

Resident Evil 2

Awarded
Game of the Year
Best Atmosphere
Best Sound Design
Best Action-Adventure Game
Best Reissue
Best Multi-Platform Game

Nominated
Best Graphics, Technical

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

Awarded
Best Multiplayer Game
Best Shooter

Nominated
Game of the Year
Best Sound Design
Best Voice Acting
Best Graphics, Technical
Best Multi-Platform Game

Disco Elysium

Awarded
Best Story
Best Indie Game
Best Graphics, Artistic
Best RPG
Best PC Exclusive

Nominated
Game of the Year
Best Atmosphere

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Awarded
Best Voice Acting 

Nominated
Game of the Year
Best Story
Best Sound Design
Best Graphics, Technical
Best Action-Adventure Game
Best Multi-Platform Game

Death Stranding

Awarded
Best PlayStation Exclusive

Nominated
Game of the Year
Best Story
Best Voice Acting
Best Graphics, Technical

Mortal Kombat 11

Awarded
Best Fighter

Nominated
Game of the Year
Best Sound Design
Best Multiplayer Game
Best Multi-Platform Game

Anthem

Awarded
Most Disappointing Game

Super Mario Maker 2

Awarded
Best Platformer

Nominated
Game of the Year

Metro Exodus

Awarded
Best Graphics, Technical

Nominated
Best Atmosphere

Wreckfest

Awarded
Best Driving Game

Sky: Children of Light

Awarded
Best Mobile Exclusive

Nominated
Best Graphics, Artistic

Tetris 99

Awarded
Best Puzzler

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

Awarded
Best Nintendo Exclusive

Nominated
Game of the Year
Best Graphics, Artistic

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Awarded
Best Strategy

Nominated
Game of the Year
Best Nintendo Exclusive

A Plague Tale: Innocence

Nominated
Game of the Year
Best Atmosphere
Best Story
Best Sound Design
Best Indie Game
Best Multiplatform Game

The Outer Worlds

Nominated
Game of the Year
Best Atmosphere
Best Story
Best RPG

Life is Strange 2

Nominated
Best Indie Game

Untitled Goose Game

Nominated
Best Indie Game

Arise: A Simple Story

Nominated
Best Indie Game
Best Graphics, Artistic

Control

Nominated
Best Voice Acting

Gears 5

Nominated
Best Voice Acting
Best Shooter

Yoshi’s Crafted World

Nominated
Best Graphics, Artistic

Sky: Children of Light

Nominated
Best Graphics, Artistic

Contra: Rogue Corps

Nominated
Most Disappointing Game

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint

Nominated
Most Disappointing Game

The Bard’s Tale IV: Director’s Cut

Nominated
Most Disappointing Game

The Elder Scrolls: Blades

Nominated
Most Disappointing Game

Dragon Quest Builders 2

Nominated
Best RPG

Kingdom Hearts III

Nominated
Best RPG

Pokemon Sword/Shield

Nominated
Game of the Year
Best RPG
Best Nintendo Exclusive

Blasphemous

Nominated
Best Platformer

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair

Nominated
Best Platformer

My Friend Pedro

Nominated
Best Platformer

Bloodstained: Curse of the Night

Nominated
Best Platformer

Mordhau

Nominated
Best Multiplayer Game
Best PC Exclusive

Tom Clancy’s The Division 2

Nominated
Best Multiplayer Game
Best Shooter

Borderlands 3

Nominated
Best Multiplayer Game
Best Shooter

Devil May Cry 5

Nominated
Best Action-Adventure Game

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Nominated
Best Action-Adventure Game

Astral Chain

Nominated
Best Action-Adventure Game
Best Nintendo Exclusive

Dirt Rally 2.0

Nominated
Best Driving Game

Need for Speed Heat

Nominated
Best Driving Game

F1 2019

Nominated
Best Driving Game

Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled

Nominated
Best Driving Game
Best Reissue

Slay the Spire

Nominated
Best Strategy Game

Age of Wonders: Planetfall

Nominated
Best Strategy Game

Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm

Nominated
Best Strategy Game

Total War: Three Kingdoms

Nominated
Best Strategy Game
Best PC Exclusive

Fantasy Strike

Nominated
Best Fighter

Dead or Alive 6

Nominated
Best Fighter

Samurai Shodown

Nominated
Best Fighter

MediEvil

Nominated
Best Reissue
Best PlayStation Exclusive

Halo: Reach

Nominated
Best Reissue

Rage 2

Nominated
Best Shooter

Baba is You

Nominated
Best Puzzler

Manifold Garden

Nominated
Best Puzzler

Puyo Puyo Champions

Nominated
Best Puzzler

Puzzle Quest: The Legend Returns

Nominated
Best Puzzler

Luigi’s Mansion 3

Nominated
Best Nintendo Exclusive

Days Gone

Nominated
Best PlayStation Exclusive

Catherine: Full Body

Nominated
Best PlayStation Exclusive

MLB: The Show 19

Nominated
Best PlayStation Exclusive

Grindstone

Nominated
Best Mobile Exclusive

Call of Duty: Mobile

Nominated
Best Mobile Exclusive

Immortal Rogue

Nominated
Best Mobile Exclusive

Mini Motorways

Nominated
Best Mobile Exclusive

Planet Zoo

Nominated
Best PC Exclusive

Amid Evil

Nominated
Best PC Exclusive

2019 Game of the Year Awards — Achievement Awards — Game of the Year

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 01/05/2020
Posted in: 2019, Game of the Year Awards. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Game of the year is the hardest category to choose and I often think about this throughout the entire year. While there were so many great runner-ups, like there is every year, the one that makes it to the top for me is the most memorable. It’s not a mathematical score of what game received the most awards or had the highest score, but what was the most fun and memorable. A game has to leave something with me and resonate. A game that needs to be discussed and admired and something even revolutionary or groundbreaking.

Resident Evil 2

Resident Evil isn’t just a great remake, but pushes a game further in an already genre defining franchise. Resident Evil 2 is sparking a whole new revolution in remakes and setting a brand new standard and you can’t go wrong with that.

Runner-Ups

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Mortal Kombat 11

A Plague Tale: Innocence

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

Disco Elysium

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

The Outer Worlds

Super Mario Maker 2

Death Stranding

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Pokemon Sword/Shield

2019 Game of the Year Awards — Achievement Awards — Best Atmosphere

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 01/05/2020
Posted in: 2019, Game of the Year Awards. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

The atmosphere doesn’t mean scary. While there are games out there that are scary and can suck you in, any game can really. It just takes excellent world-building and something that’s not realistic but engaging, a world that you would want to be in.

Resident Evil 2

RE2 managed to nab the scary atmosphere this year, but also the heart-wrenching fear of being stuck in Raccoon City. The world in RE2 may be linear, but it’s downright frightening and one of the best horror games of the last decade. The most realistic zombies ever created sure helps a lot too.

Runner-Ups

Metro Exodus

Disco Elysium

A Plague Tale: Innocence

The Outer Worlds