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Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 11/04/2019

Posted in: Microsoft Consoles, Nintendo Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 4, Sony Consoles, Steam Deck Verification, Steam Deck Verified, Switch, Xbox One. Tagged: ghostbusters, hd, mad dog games, remastered, saber interactive, the video game. Leave a comment

Publisher: Saber Interactive

Developer: Mad Dog Games

Release Date: 10/04/2019

Available On

Ghostbusters is one of the few franchises out there that doesn’t get enough attention. With Ghostbusters 3 floating around for decades, most fans gave up hope completely. Then, what turned out to be the script for the third movie pretty much turned into what we have today. With all the original cast coming back to voice the game, it was like a dream come true. While not the best game ever, it was incredibly faithful to the franchise and made every Ghostbuster fan happy, including myself. This was one of my favorite movies growing up as a kid, and to play as a Ghostbuster was just awesome.

Here, we have a remastered version of the 2009 game instead of a fourth game, but this is great as it will spark new interest in the franchise. I highly recommend watching the two movies before diving into this game, because there are a lot of references to those movies that won’t make sense unless you have watched them, as they aren’t explained, including many Easter eggs. You play as a rookie Ghostbuster who just recently got hired, the fifth Ghostbuster, and fight alongside the original four, voiced in their original glory. It’s just amazing and gets my fanboy juices flowing hearing the original cast together. While the game isn’t exactly a movie, it feels like a larger evolution of the mythos and lore of Ghostbusters, taking you from the ghostly issues of New York to a global scale and bringing us into the ghost realm, which most people expected in the third movie.

The game has many locales from the movies, such as the Ghostbusters’ headquarters, the Sedgewick Hotel, and the Public Library. Ghosts from the movies and news made it in, and it’s a blast to see. You really feel like an actual ghostbuster in this game. You have your pack strapped on with all its fictional science tech flashing and buzzing, and you can shoot your stream at ghosts to whittle down health and finally capture them and bring them into the box just like in the movies. It looks and sounds exactly as it should, and it’s pretty awesome. That is, for the first level, then it does start getting old. That’s the major issue with this game: repetition sets in early, and there’s no change in gameplay outside of a few scripted events, which I think there should have been more of.

Fighting and capturing ghosts aren’t the only enemies, as there are smaller ones that can get blasted away. Then you have a boss fight at the end of each level. Of course, my favorite level in the whole game is when you fight the Stay Puft, but as you progress more in the game and get to more original content, it just isn’t as memorable or exciting as the first half of the game, which used more stuff from the movies. Locations feel generic, the ghosts aren’t interesting to look at, and there are far fewer scripted events. The game even gets downright punishing thanks to the constant need to revive teammates every 5 seconds. I spent more time reviving everyone than I did capturing ghosts. Once everyone is down and you go down, the game is over. I felt this was one of the worst parts of the entire game and brought it down a bit. It doesn’t help that shooting ghosts has zero feedback outside of a circular health bar getting smaller. There’s no hit feedback or anything, and it’s not very satisfying.

Due to the lack of a cover system, you run around shooting at these guns aimlessly, and once you bring them down into the box, it’s on to the next scene. I loved hearing the banter between the original cast, but sadly, Bill Murray phoned the whole thing in, as his voice acting is terrible and is a huge contrast to Harold Ramis, Dan Akroyd, and Ernie Hudson’s excellent work. It’s still great to hear them crack jokes and sarcasm at each other, and it breaks up the monotony of running around linear hallways shooting ghosts.

With that said, the game has aged well and is really only suited for fans of the movies, but there are things that could have been fixed, like better hit feedback, the need to constantly revive everyone, and the boring later levels. I would have liked to have driven the Ecto-1 at some point. I would have liked to explore more of the Ghostbuster’s personal life, as these are established, well-known characters that everyone loves. I don’t just want to go from scene A to Z with nothing in between. Even though there is a decent epic plot that involves the realms of reality and the afterlife colliding together, I wanted more, and Ghostbusters missed that opportunity. The visual enhancements are nice, and the game runs decently on Switch with only occasional slowdown, but what this feels like is Ghostbusters fast food and not a steak dinner.

Reviewed On

Control

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 10/10/2019

Posted in: Microsoft Consoles, Nintendo Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Sony Consoles, Steam Deck Verification, Steam Deck Verified, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S. Tagged: action, control, dlss, remedy entertainment, shooter, third person shooter, tps. Leave a comment

Publisher: 505 Games

Developer: Remedy Entertainment

Release Date: 08/27/2019

Available On

I love Remedy’s games and always have. From the first Max Payne all the way to Quantum Break, there have been ups and downs, but Alan Wake still remains my favorite game from them. Control takes place in the same universe as Alan Wake and even explains what kind of happened down there, as you play as Director Jesse, who has a crazy gun that can transform, and you fight off weird enemies called The Hiss, and your goal…well, I can’t tell you what the end goal is as this is Remedy’s most incoherent story yet, with many plot holes, and even after the credits rolled, I still couldn’t make sense of the story at all.

Let’s start with the exploration. Control takes place solely inside the Federal Bureau of Control and is a generic, boring, and ugly building that is basically a labyrinthine maze that requires a ton of backtracking and is a pain to navigate. There are several floors in this building, and spread throughout are control points, which you use to level up Jesse and fast travel. Even though fast travel is nice, trying to find new areas from those points is a serious pain. Throughout the game, you can find files to read and solve simple puzzles that use your telekinetic powers. Jesse can throw objects as weapons, break off pieces of buildings, and hurl them. This is a key combat mechanic, as you will swap between this and your weapon when either is recharging.

Combat in Control is pretty boring and frustrating. In fact, I would have rather had no combat in this game, and it would have been more enjoyable. Shooting enemies that float in the air, have shields, larger health bars, and some bosses are all fun, but not in Control. The game throws an insane amount of enemies at you at every turn, and there are no cover systems, so you must run around like a bafoon, trying to avoid explosive enemies, bullets, and projectiles. You don’t get to levitate until the last fourth of the game, and I never even got the dodge move or shield, as completing side missions is an absolute chore, and I didn’t care enough to see the level-up system all the way through.

Many times I died because you can’t heal unless an enemy has dropped health, and if you pick it all up, you’re screwed. This is essentially a broken mechanic, and I hated every minute of it. Not once did I enjoy the combat because instead of fun and unique bosses, you get tossed into arenas, gauntlets, and waves of enemies to chew through, and it seriously hinders progression. Not to mention they respawn in certain areas when you’re trying to cut through somewhere. The gun itself isn’t fun to shoot as it requires recharging, and there’s no ammo or reloading. There are various forms, such as a sniper pistol, machine pistol, grenade launcher, shotgun pistol, etc., but I only stuck with a couple of forms throughout the whole game. You can add perks to Jesse and each weapon that can increase health, decrease recharging, reduce energy costs, etc., and these are vital to surviving.

As you explore the game, you will notice Remedy’s signature trippiness as levels twist, turn, and transform. There’s a supernatural aspect to the game, of course, but it’s all for naught. Nothing in the game is ever explained, like why I can pull a string three times and get warped to the Oceanview Motel and have to solve the same stupid puzzles inside. Ring the front desk bell, go into a room, remember the placement of objects, ring the bell again, and move the objects to the next room. It’s stupid and makes no sense. Why is Jesse communicating with this Hadron entity, and who is her brother anyway? What purpose does the director have in all of this, and why does a slide projector harness so much power? Yeah, it makes about as much sense as it sounds, and nothing is ever explained. It’s hard to push through the boring and frustrating combat only to get another confusing cut scene that seems like a random piece from a storyline.

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Control looks pretty good, but Nvidia’s DLSS anti-aliasing is awful here, and the game is a blurry mess even with MSAA enabled. The engine is decently optimized, as I got a steady 60FPS through most of the game with RTX on, and it rarely dropped below 45FPS. However, the art style is dull and stale, with concrete hallways and corridors. It doesn’t have a unique identity, and that’s sad, as Remedy is good at this.

Overall, Control is a disappointing follow-up to Remedy’s legacy. With Quantum Break being as disappointing as it was, was Alan Wake their last great game? Control isn’t the game we all wanted, and I honestly won’t remember this game a week from now, and that’s sad as there’s lost potential here with Remedy’s signature touches that just don’t quite connect. The combat is boring and frustrating and very repetitive; there is lots of backtracking, and the confusing mess of a building to explore just doesn’t strike me as fun. If the story was at least solid, it would be worth it, but it makes no sense, and when the credits roll, you just shrug and wonder why you wasted your time.

Reviewed On

Keyboard & Mouse

Corsair K95 Platinum Keyboard

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 10/10/2019

Posted in: Hardware, PC Reviews. Tagged: browns, cherry, corsair, gaming, k95, keyboard, platinum, rgb. Leave a comment

CORSAIR-K95-RGB-Platinum-Cherry-MX-Brown-Mechanical

Manufacturer: Corsair

Release Date: 01/05/2017

MSRP: $199.99

I’ve had various keyboards over the years, but there’s always something off about them. The keys don’t feel right; I never use the features on them; the software is horrible; or something along those lines. I’ve held off on Corsair keyboards for so long because they’re the most expensive ones on the market, but after 6 months with the K95 Platinum, I can see why, and it’s justified.

The K95 is one of the most solid keyboards I’ve ever used. Just holding it out of the box, you can feel the solid build with an aluminum body and very satisfying keycaps. From the sleek media buttons, the subtle yet useful proprietary keys up top, and the awesome wrist wrest. The K95 just oozes quality and style before you even plug it in. The K95 has a thick braided cable and also features a USB 3.0 passthrough, which I actually love and use myself.

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I want to start with the proprietary buttons on this keyboard before talking about anything else. On the right side, you have six shortcut or macro keys, and I love the placement of these. They are out of the way enough to allow you to ignore them, or if you use them, they are easily accessible. Along the top, you have three buttons on the left that are used with Corsair iCUE. The little person icon allows you to flip through RGB profiles, while the sun icon has three brightness stages, and the lock button keeps the Windows button locked. Further right are three white LEDs for Scroll Lock, Caps Lock, and Num Lock. I love how small and minimal these are. They are just big enough to tell you what’s going on. To the far right are a volume wheel and a mute button. I honestly love these to death. An easy-to-use mute button and the volume wheel feel amazing as they have some weight, aren’t plastic, and feel good to use. I’ve never once had a useful volume adjustment option on my keyboard until now. Below that, just above the Numpad, are the four media keys. Again, it’s the best I’ve ever used. There is no need for a function button; just press the buttons, and they will work. I use these all the time when listening to music, and they feel solid and are actually shaped differently than the other buttons.

The keys themselves are nice and big and just feel right. I can’t do the keyboard justice by just describing it. This is the most satisfying keyboard I’ve ever used, as it just feels perfect. The actuation distance is perfect, the keycap size is perfect, and each key is spaced perfectly apart. I’ve spent 6 months with this keyboard, so I can really tell if it’s all that different from other premium keyboards. I don’t think I can use any other keyboard, as they all feel subpar compared to this one. The other major attraction is the RGB lighting, as Corsair has the best RGB in the business, and the K95 is beautiful. With a lightbar up top and bright, vivid lights underneath each key, I have never seen a better RGB keyboard. Nothing tops this. Corsair iCUE is the most versatile RGB software out there, and the customization options are endless. You can make scrolling logos and insane patterns, with endless possibilities. I have seen some of the craziest RGB setups on this thing, and it looks amazing with all of my other Corsair products.

The wrist rest actually has a magnetic, reversible rubber pad that sits inside the rest. It’s not adjustable, but I highly recommend using it. I also haven’t found the rubber to deteriorate over time like other products. It’s a very hard rubber material, and the rubber under my wrists is the same as it was when I bought it. Overall, the K95 Platinum is expensive but well worth the price, as you won’t get a better experience anywhere else. Corsair is a master in their class and has perfected the keyboard over the years, and it clearly shows.

Corsair Void Pro RGB Wireless Headset

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 10/10/2019

Posted in: Hardware, PC Reviews. Tagged: corsair, dolby, headset, rgb, surround sound, void pro, wireless headset. Leave a comment

Manufacturer: Corsair

Release Date: 08/22/2017

MSRP: $129.99

Colors: White, Black, Yellow

Headsets are always some of the most subjective pieces of tech out there because everyone’s listening preferences are different. I’ve never owned any audio devices from Corsair before, as these replaced my HyperX Cloud S headset from a year ago. The Void Pro is a solid headset with a few issues, but nothing that really brings the experience down.

The headset itself is built quite solidly, with large ear cups, a cushioned band on top, and a large range for adjustment. There are two RGB logos on the outside of each cup, and these can, of course, be turned off to save battery life. The battery typically lasts around 14 hours, and maybe 16 without the lights on. I found the overall sound quality to be very clear but lacking the deep bass that I normally like. Now, this headset is also touted as having 7.1 surround sound with the press of a button, and that’s negligible. It seems to only add an effect to make it sound like surround sound, as I couldn’t really tell in some games. Now if you turned surround sound on in the game, there was a striking difference. I can’t tell if this is a true 7.1 headset or not, or if it’s just a gimmick. Usually, surround audio in headsets is hit or miss, but it seems okay here when it is actually supported.

The largest issue I have with this headset is the software support. Sure, Corsair iCUE is a great piece of software, and my headset can now light up in sync with the rest of my Corsair products, but the equalizer portion is abysmal. You can’t export or import EQ settings, so every time I changed a lighting theme, I had to take a screenshot of my EQ settings and manually enter them every single time. The preset EQ settings are also horrible, and I can never seem to find the perfect adjustments. It’s either too much treble or not enough bass. I’m really disappointed in this aspect, as it almost made me return the headset for something else. For $130, I expected better software support, and it hasn’t changed. I’ve had this headset for 6 months now. I also found the volume to be too low on some things at max volume.

The headset features a fold-up boom mic, and there’s a red LED on the end to show if it’s muted. When you fold it down, it unmutes and seems to be of really nice quality, and it is bendable and adjustable. The headset also comes with a long USB cable for charging and a wireless dongle. I paired this with the Corsair headset stand, and it works nicely. The dongle could stand to be smaller, but overall I never ran into connection issues or cut-outs, crackling, or the headset having trouble finding it. This is the best wireless headset I have had just for this alone, as all my previous ones constantly cut out, and the range seems to be great. I was able to walk into my kitchen without any audio cutting out.

Overall, the Corsair Void Pro headset is a solid piece of tech with crisp and clear sound despite a terrible EQ and lacking bass. If you can get the EQ adjusted right for yourself, you’re going to have a great time. While the 7.1 surround sound is iffy as it’s stimulated, it’s there if you can get it to work right, and with decent battery life, you can game all night without charging it.

Gears 5

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 10/04/2019

Posted in: Microsoft Consoles, PC Reviews, Steam Deck Playable, Steam Deck Verification, Xbox One. Tagged: gears 5, gears of war, marcus fenix, Microsoft, online multiplayer, pc, the coalition, third person shooter, tps, unreal engine, windows, xbox, xbox one. Leave a comment

Publisher: Xbox Game Studios

Developer: The Coalition

Release Date: 09/06/2019

Available On

Gears of War has always held a special place in my heart, as it was the first game to introduce me to “next-generation” graphics. You know, shaders, real-time lighting, high-resolution textures, ambient occlusion, all that jazz. It was the first Xbox 360 game I ever played, and I will never forget the first time I played through that game. It’s still one of the best shooters ever made, and nothing will change that. After Gears of War 4, my hopes for the series died a bit, as it had a mediocre campaign and average multiplayer. Gears 5, however, takes the series a step further by adding open-world elements and a rock-solid campaign.

I didn’t mind the new additions to Gears 4; they were just not implemented well enough. The new weapons were lackluster, the older weapons didn’t pack the punch they used to, and the level design was bland and stale. I got tired of playing in the same areas throughout the whole game, and the entire base-building or defense gameplay was just boring to me. Gears 5 strips the base defense gameplay, tunes everything up several notches, and makes what was introduced in Gears 4 really good now. The weapons pack a serious punch, the game is more challenging, the waves of enemies are more balanced, and the entire ebb and flow of the game is like the older ones. I was glued to the game through the entire campaign and didn’t want to stop. Gone are the boring Deebee robots (they’re back as swarms now, but only sparsely) and a larger variety of locust swarms.

Gears 5 starts out like any other Gears game with story elements; it picks up right where Gears 4 left off and has a linear, bombastic level full of scripted events. This is where you get to learn about Jack, who is actually a usable partner now with various abilities that you can upgrade. Things like cloaking, shields, armor, the ability to zap people, and various other abilities. Upgrades are found throughout the game, and I only found a few of Jack’s abilities useful, mainly the armor and shield. Cloaking is useless as the game tries to force stealth for the first time, and it just does not work at all. Sneaking around knifing Locust is fine and all, but their patrol patterns are poorly laid out, and it almost seems random. Never do all the patrols perfectly line up for multiple stealth takedowns. This leads to horrific AI in both enemies and partners. When you’re down but not out, it can take forever to be revived, even if someone is right next to you. I died several times because an AI couldn’t figure out how to climb a ladder as well. Enemy AI will also sometimes get stuck behind walls or just freeze up all together, causing objectives to not clear and having to hunt down where someone got stuck.

It’s not all bad though, as stealth sections only popped up a few times and AI rarely messed up, but when it did, it was the most inconvenient time. Thankfully, the new open-world idea works well, but it’s not what you think. You drive a wind-powered Skiff sled that pulls you around on two separate “open” maps. These maps are just a huge excuse to get upgrades for Jack. Outside of going back and forth to the main objectives, you can stop by and locate 1 out of 3 of something for Jack. These are just various enemy arenas and don’t take long to complete. They’re fun as they vary and are challenging but unnecessary. It’s just an excuse to extend game time. I also don’t understand the complaint about needing to fast-travel between areas. Riding the Skiff is actually fun, and there are some scripted sequences that take place here between the main missions. The maps are not that big, and the two environments are snow and desert. They’re fun, but I wouldn’t miss them if they disappeared in the next game.

That leaves just the campaign itself with well-paced gameplay throughout, and there was never a dull moment. Enemies are better spaced out, and the addition of armored enemies adds to the challenge, as well as Scions and Wardens, which are the big baddie additions of Locust, similar to the larger enemies from the Swarm we got in Gears 4. There are plenty of scripted events, and sadly, the story doesn’t really evolve during these open-world scenes as the game is sandwiched between two large, traditionally linear chapters, and these are more enjoyable than the middle of the game. The story ends on a cliffhanger again, and there are just a few more answers that are given in the traditional Gears way.

That finally leaves multiplayer, which is bigger and better than ever. With the original modes tweaked and fine-tuned, such as Horde and Versus, the new Escape mode sees you escaping from the center of a swarm nest with two other partners, and it’s incredibly hard. You start out with a snub and must fight through waves as you make your way out. It feels more like a reverse Horde mode. In Horde mode, you also play a base defense game like in Gears 4, but engineers play larger roles than before. It’s all been tweaked, and I liked it for a while, but I’ve never been the biggest fan of Gears multiplayer. That’s part of why I’m not going super in-depth into it. There are more customization features than ever before with skins and characters and, of course, microtransactions, but it’s all cosmetic. You also get ability cards and a bunch of other stuff I didn’t really care for.

The game looks fantastic and much better than Gears 4 did. The character models are amazing, there are fantastic animations and voice acting, and everything just looks so great, and it runs well—well, at least it did after the first patch. I had constant stuttering and audio glitches for about a week, but it seems fine now. The game is well optimized for PCs, with tons of graphics options and support for ultrawide screens. The game can run on a vast variety of older hardware, which is also a plus.

Overall, Gears 5 is what Gears of War 4 should have been. Fantastically balanced gameplay, well-paced, and an open-world concept that seems to be done just right and doesn’t overstay its welcome. The enemies are fun, the new tweaks and additions are a blast, and multiplayer is larger than ever. I just wish they would concentrate on more core Gears gameplay, level design, and story rather than trying bold new ideas. This isn’t the series that really needs that.

Reviewed On

Keyboard & Mouse

Publisher: Ubisoft

Developer: Obsidian Entertainment

Release Date: 03/04/2014 (PS3, PC, X360) 03/13/2018 (PS4, XONE), 09/25/2018 (NS)

Available On

Good ‘ol South Park. One of the granddaddies of television backlash. Before, Family Guy was in South Park. An adult cartoon features four children living in the rural town of South Park, Colorado, who run into various antics and adventures. The series is still ongoing and started in 1997. I remember fondly as a kid not being allowed to watch the show unless my parents watched it first, and if it wasn’t too graphic, we could watch a re-run. The Stick of Truth is a turn-based RPG with roots in the show and features the same humor as well.

You play as The New Kid or Sir Douchebag despite Cartman ignoring whatever you name your character, which is hilarious. You’re a voiceless protagonist who is swept into the children’s D&D game of The Stick of Truth. There are two factions fighting over it: the elves and the knights. Your goal is to continuously get the Stick back from the various people who steal it and it leads to one crazy adventure. Throughout the game, you also have to recruit two factions: the girls and the goths. This leads to various interesting areas, like a UFO where everyone is getting anally probed, to shrinking down to a gnome and battling on the bed your parents are having sex on, to crawling into Mr. Slave’s anus and fighting through his intestines. Yeah, it has over-the-top humor that will offend most and is one of the most graphic games I have ever played, but that’s not a bad thing.

Outside of wandering around the town of South Park and discovering the few side quests there are, you can shoot things down and bash open things to find a hidden treasure. Just like in any RPG, you have armor, weapons, consumables, and cosmetic items. The weapons and armor come in steadily, and I was always happy to have a new weapon that let me hit harder. Depending on the class you choose, it will affect what weapons are available in the game, as you can only find weapons for that class. There are fast travel points, which are a lifesaver. You have four different abilities you acquire throughout the game, such as shooting, buddy commands, shrinking, and using your anal probe to teleport. These are all context-sensitive, so you can only use them when you’re allowed, but they give a sense of discovery as you can access parts of the game later on that were blocked before. Your magic consists of…farting. Yes, you fart for magic, and you have four magic attacks you learn. Dragonshout, Cup-a-Spell, Nagasaki, and the Sneaky Squeaker. These sound downright hilarious and absurd, but who still doesn’t laugh at fart jokes?

Combat is where the meat of the game is, and it’s flawed for sure, but it works. You can only have one other person in your party, but enemies can come at you in groups of six. A strategy is key here, especially during boss fights, as you need to balance consumables, magic, power attacks, abilities, and what your partner is capable of. It’s good to know that the Nazi zombies can’t be grossed out but are only weak to bleeding. You can hit them all you want, but you will only do 1 point of damage until their bleeding effects stack up. It’s not too hard to figure out, and I only died a couple of times through the whole game. Any RPG fan will be able to dive in and understand it right away. The combat is surprisingly deep, but these mystery buffs can frustrate some.

The game is also not particularly long-running at 8 hours if you just finish the main quests. It’s a fun story with awesome humor and tons of references to South Park episodes and geek culture. South Park isn’t afraid to be bold and do what it does best. The jabs at right-wing politics are especially funny, as are name-brand references and various other things. South Park’s characters have always been memorable and have stood the test of time. This is by far the best South Park game ever made and it captures the show perfectly. Of course, the game isn’t for everyone, as some of the humor may come off as childish, crude, brash, or just downright offensive, which is fine. Everyone’s sense of humor is different, but that doesn’t stop this from being a bad game. It may be too simple at times, with combat that can drag on too long, but a lot of love and effort was put into this by the guys who made Fallout 2, New Vegas, and Divinity: Original Sin. I can’t complain there.

Reviewed On

Darq

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 09/18/2019

Posted in: Microsoft Consoles, Nintendo Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Sony Consoles, Steam Deck Verification, Steam Deck Verified, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S. Tagged: adventure, darq, horror, indie, scary, unfold games. Leave a comment

Publisher: Unfold Games

Developer: Unfold Games

Release Date: 08/15/2019

Available On

Minimalistic indie puzzle/platformer games are something I really adore. Limbo, Inside, Little Nightmares, Unraveled, and many others like it are just full of atmosphere, clever puzzle design, and great platforming. The issue with all of these games is the story. It’s nice to be minimalistic with no tutorials, simple controls, no cut-scenes, etc., but please guys, start making stories we can care about. Darq falls under the same problems as these before, with interesting character designs but no context. Why am I running around themed levels solving puzzles and running away from creatures with lamps as heads, creepy women in wheelchairs, and a guy in a wheelchair with a tuba as a head? Why am I placing severed legs into sockets to solve puzzles? What does this all mean?

I feel like the meaning of the game would mean more than the game itself. Darq is only an hour long, probably the shortest of these minimalistic platformers I’ve ever played, and yet there’s no purpose to any of it. Sure, the concept of walking on walls, flipping and switching to shooting you between areas, and all the other puzzles are done very well and are quite clever, but why am I doing it? I don’t even know my character’s name; there’s not a single piece of written dialog, and all I know is that I’m waking up in a dream to solve these puzzles.

There are 7 levels, with one being a scripted running level, and they get progressively longer and more complex. By complex, I mean the game consists of “where does this piece go?” type of puzzling, and once you figure out where it goes, the actual puzzle is fun and not very hard. I had more trouble finding the pieces than solving the puzzles, and there was an occasional section in which I had to hide from an enemy, but it was only a single section of the level. Puzzles range from switch flipping, lining things up properly, twisting things, etc. Nothing Myst-level or extremely vague. You can mow through the game in 60–90 minutes and be done, but I honestly wanted more—now only more if there was a story or something.

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I found the atmosphere and art design to be rather fantastic. The main character looks like something from a Tim Burton movie, with everything in black and white and creatures that could fit into Silent Hill. The levels themselves range from a hospital, train, subway station, and four-way street in a neighborhood to a mine. Each level was unique and memorable, and I loved how you can walk on walls, as this game just worked your brain and really made you think, but everything made sense. There are no vague hints here; if you think it works, then it probably works. Each level can take about 10-20 minutes to solve depending on how stuck you get. I found the final level the most challenging, which is expected.

Again, the visuals are amazing, the art style is very unique, there are great monster designs, and the puzzles are well designed too, but why am I doing all of this? I’m tired of these indie developers thinking no story is some niche thing. Are developers catering to some pseudointellectual niche audience who think they “understand” these games or something, or are they just too lazy to design a story? Whatever the case may be, the flak “walking simulators” and other indie games that focus on gameplay and “story” over AAA bombastic scenes need to grow a little and maybe add a story and characters that we can care about.

Reviewed On

Xbox One S Controller

Apsulov: End of Gods

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 09/13/2019

Posted in: Microsoft Consoles, Nintendo Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Sony Consoles, Steam Deck Verification, Steam Deck Verified, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S. Tagged: adventure, angry demon studio, apsulov, end of gods, exclusive, horror, norse, pc, scary, windows. Leave a comment

Publisher: Angry Demon Studio

Developer: Angry Demon Studio

Release Date: 08/08/2019

Available On

I’m starting to see more and more games use Norse mythology and ditch Greek mythology. With games like God of War, Greek mythology was pretty much beaten to death in gaming, and ironically, with the new God of War, Norse mythology has made a comeback, and I also believe this has a lot to do with the Marvel Avengers movies. You play as a person who belongs in this Norse realm resurrected by a scientist, and you end up running around finding RFID keys, skulls, and upgrades for your arm.

Apsulov is a first-person horror adventure with a little bit of first-person action tossed in. This scientific base created around the World Tree is your main area, and all you know is that you’re supposed to gather these things for a scientist named Henrick. The RFID keys allow you to access new areas of the base, and sometimes you will travel through the roots of the tree to other realms. These few levels consist of mostly action as you run around, avoiding ice giants, to gather the keys to lock the gate to Helheim. Some areas require stealth as you have to avoid creepy enemies, and then when you get your arm, you can shoot them with a charged shot, but upgrades are needed to add more charge. This isn’t very useful at first, but later in the game, it becomes essential and then part of the actual story.

The atmosphere in Apsulov is pretty intense and scary, with fantastically done ambient sounds of people screaming, squishing, torture, and creature sound designs. I wasn’t so creeped out, but I was incredibly tense through most sequences. The base does become a bit disorienting after a while, as you actually do a lot of backtracking after the first half of the game is over, and you will need to enter areas multiple times. Towards the end, this gets really annoying, as you know you just went through this area and it’s either slightly altered or you have to creep past the same enemies again. I also didn’t like that when you die, you are brought to some room where you must insert two orbs into a socket to open a portal. The problem is that Loki is running around here, ready to get you, and once you pick up an orb, you can’t run. You have to sneak around trying to get these things, and if Loki gets you, it’s back to the last save point. If you get both orbs in, then you can pick up right where you died. It was a really strange system for sure, and I didn’t like it at all. Most of the time, I just opted to restart from the save.

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There aren’t any boss fights except for the final boss, which is actually pretty fun and makes good use of the arm. I did feel more powerful toward the end of the game, and it made the ending pretty satisfying with an obvious hint at a possible sequel. I also didn’t quite understand the story until the last 30 minutes, when everything came together. The game is really bad at delivering pieces of the story until this point, and it makes playing seem somewhat pointless as audio logs tell you what’s happening around you but not what your purpose is. I wish this could have been spread out more, as the game only lasts 4-5 hours. I also felt the arm upgrades were useless as the ending changes the way your arm is used and all the upgrades are meaningless. Even if you got all the upgrades (I was short 2), it only allows one extra charged shot, and you still can’t take down more than that as you must find a charging station or charging pods to refill your arm.

Outside of these minor issues, Apsulov is an interesting adventure game that really uses Norse mythology well. I just wish it didn’t only matter in the final moments of the game, as the previous 4 hours felt pointless. I also never connected to any of the characters, as they just weren’t written very well, especially myself. The dialog is just a little sterile, and when the game ended, I knew I would quickly forget about this game in a few days. The story isn’t even all that great, despite making sense towards the end. With constant backtracking and a shooting mechanic that just doesn’t feel right, Apsulov falls a bit short of becoming a sleeper hit or even game of the year material, but adventure game fans will love this.

Reviewed On

Keyboard & Mouse

Punch-Out!! – 10 Years Later

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 08/16/2019

Posted in: Nintendo, Retro Consoles, Wii. Tagged: boxing, exclusive, fighter, fighting, mike tyson, next level games, Nintendo, punch-out!!, wii. Leave a comment

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Next Level Games

Release Date: 05/18/2009

Available Exclusively On

Punch-Out!! is a Nintendo staple as it was one of the first established exclusives of the NES. Playing as Little Mac, you run through a gauntlet of characters with varying difficulty to put your reflexes to the test. Punch-Out!! is a remake of that game and utilizes the Wii motion controls.

Let’s get down to the dirty business of this game. In essence, this is an arcade game you must perfect to the T without missing a beat. Your reflexes are required to be lightning-fast to get very far in this game. Each character has a unique set of 5 moves that require memorization and pattern recognition, or you will simply never get past the Title Bout of the Minor Circuit, which is when the game gets really hard. The first three characters aren’t very difficult and are just warm-ups for what’s to come. You can duck, dodge left or right, and block, but blocking is rarely used as most attacks can’t be blocked. You can then jab and hook left or right. The controls are the same as the NES version, and this makes the game overly simple for some or just enough for others. Newcomers may find this game too shallow, while veterans will feel right at home.

That’s where the motion controls come in. For a game that requires response time in the milliseconds’ motion controls, just don’t cut it. I got through the first two circuits with them, but after so long, I had to switch to the buttons on the Wii remote as I needed to be that much quicker. Using the nunchuck and remote, you can jab left or right and then dodge with the C-stick. I found this to be more complicated than it needed to be for me, and punching with the motion controls just doesn’t feel like punching but more like mindless shaking. The Wii remote on its side is the best way to go here, or even the classic controller.

That’s the essence of Punch-Out!!. Soda Popinski took me 90 minutes to beat and maybe two dozen restarts, as you have to learn his patterns and when to dodge his moves. He also drinks soda to refill his health, and you only get a split second to knock it out of his hand. There are also taunts that some characters do that can earn you stars for star punches that do extra damage, but these are rare and hard to get. Outside of the main career mode, there is Exhibition and a two-player mode, so it’s definitely light on modes and things to do. This game is not for casual players, despite seeming like it is. This is for hardcore arcade goers or veterans of the original. I thought I was going to blow through this game in a couple of hours, but I spent that one on a few characters alone.

It does get incredibly frustrating to need to have such perfect timing and reflexes, and it almost seems unnecessary. Sadly, there are no difficult changes, but there are a few hidden secrets that can give you an edge. When the ref is counting down, you can rapidly tap 1 and 2 to regain health. At the end of each round, you can press and hear a chime, and you will refill your health. This only works twice, though. This leads to my biggest complaint of the game: You never do more than a smidge of damage to each character, and there’s no way to level up and get more powerful. I had to widdle away at the health when a character could knock me out in two hits. I found this heavily unbalanced and unfair. Shouldn’t Little Mac get stronger as he fights, and shouldn’t there be a training mode with mini-games to level up? It just makes sense. This game is too similar to the NES version and carries over all of its flaws.

As it stands, Punch-Out!! is a really fun game of reflexes and timing with interesting and funny characters, but it lacks modes and a way to get stronger, and restarting matches two to three dozen times just isn’t fun after a while. The motion controls also just don’t work for this kind of game that requires precise movements and response times. I also wish there were some original characters and maybe not rely on this being a remake of a 25-year-old game. At the end of the day, this would have been a good rental, but for $50, there’s just not enough meat here to justify that cost.

Excite Truck – 13 Years Later

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 08/15/2019

Posted in: Nintendo, Retro Consoles, Wii. Tagged: excite truck, exclusive, monster games, Nintendo, racer, racing, wii. Leave a comment

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Monster Games, Inc.

Release Date: 11/19/2006

Available Exclusively On

Most people think of Excite Bike on the NES when they hear the word Excite from Nintendo, but a truck series? It intrigued people and had the potential to be as addictive as Excite Bike all those years ago. Being a launch title on the Wii, just like Excite Bike was for the NES, it got a lot of hardcore Nintendo fans excited. Insane speeds, jumps, stunts, smashing? Was this Excite Bike evolved for the next generation?

The short answer is no, and the long answer is God, no, but it does have some good merits. While not really resembling anything Excite Bike-related, not even a track editor, it has its own name. Excite Truck pits generic monster trucks against each other and equally generic tracks, turboing and drifting around corners, to rack up as many stars as you can. This includes jumping through rings, morphing terrain, and getting invincibility power-ups. Sounds exciting, and it is quite thrilling, but it’s all flash and no substance.

The entire game is controlled with just the Wii remote on its side, and you steer by turning the remote. The controls right off the bat are way too sensitive, and this is especially noticeable once you are going at mach speeds and on cars that don’t have a high grip rating. I crashed into trees and went off course numerous times, but thankfully if you mash the 2 buttons fast enough you can hop back on track with a boost. Another underlying issue is that the track design isn’t built for these insane speeds. It’s like they finished building the tracks and then decided to make the cars faster. A lot of times I would be top speed-boosting through jumps only to jump farther than the turn or overshoot things. When you’re going this fast, you shouldn’t have to hold back on the boost; it defeats the purpose. I’m not going to strategically manage my boost, as most arcade games don’t do this. It feels like they were trying to make the player compensate for their mistake by letting you go too fast.

The speed and squirreling of the cars lead to missed pick-up items such as the terrain morphs (they add a jump in front of you or lower you down to the water to cool your boost meter) or the invincibility pick-up, which are too small to hit when going at insane speeds. It just feels so unbalanced and not playtested enough. I constantly missed these things unless I slowed down to a crawl, and thankfully the AI is brain dead and incredibly easy, as even in my worst races I still made it first. There’s just too much to do in this game on the track at these speeds. I don’t want to do 360s in the air; I don’t want to morph the terrain. I want well-built, memorable tracks with insane jumps and better physics.

This leads to more problems. The lack of content and just the overall meh feeling of everything. The tracks are some of the most generic I have ever seen. Just random turns and jumps with dirt and trees splattered around. I can’t tell one track from the next, and the visuals are so bad (even for Wii standards) that you won’t care. Awful aliasing and flat textures are just everywhere. Outside of the 25 races in the main event, there are challenges that have you racing through gates or flying through rings. It’s not very exciting, honestly. After the first cup was finished, I saw all there was that this game offered, and it wasn’t much. This is one of the most generic and plain racers on the Wii, and it shouldn’t carry the Excite name at all.

Overall, Excite Truck is a game with an awesome sense of speed, and after about 10 races, it all wears off. Horrible track design, generic presentation, lack of content, and just too much speed for tracks not designed for it. I never felt completely in control of a race or my car, no matter how good I was at it. A track editor would have been nice to make better ones than the developers provided, and there’s no online play. At best, it’s a filler launch title that I would have been mad to pay $50 for. It’s just like eating a small bag of potato chips. It’s fun during the 10 minutes it takes to eat them, then you toss the bag and forget all about it.