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Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 01/10/2018

Posted in: Editor's Choice, Microsoft Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 4, Sony Consoles, Steam Deck Verification, Steam Deck Verified, Xbox One. Tagged: bethesda, first person shooter, fps, id software, shooter, the new colossus, wolfenstein ii. Leave a comment

Publisher: Bethesda Softworks

Developer: Machine Games

Release Date: 10/27/2017

Also Available On

Good campaigns are kind of rare in FPS games these days, but 2016 brought back a ton of great FPS campaigns, and it was glorious. Wolfenstein II is another game that focuses more on its story and characters rather than its multiplayer, which is always a welcome change.

You play as BJ Blazcowicz as the story picks up right after The New Order. It’s 1961 America in which Hitler and his Nazi regime have dug their roots deeper into the world. BJ and his cohorts from the last game are trying to start a revolution and gather the last remaining scraps they can muster. It might sound like another typical FPS, but this game has heart, soul, and character. Every character is memorable, loveable, and downright awesome to experience. The entire cast just works so well together including the villains. The Nazi villains are ruthless, deadly, and just despicable and it takes good writing to feel that way about a character.

The story kept me going through the whole game as there were plot twists and sudden shock moments which had my blood boiling. One moment I thought everything was over only to have the story take a turn for the worse or better. It’s so well written and something you will talk about for a while. Outside of the story, the awesome shooting action is back and slightly improved and streamlined. One important thing to mention is that the boss fights are gone, but this is kind of a blessing as they were mediocre in the last game.

There’s a weapon upgrade system, collectibles, and new contraptions (that you acquire halfway through the story) to change things up. Each weapon gets 3 different upgrades and they are all extremely useful. From less recoil to suppressors, some even alter the ammo and dynamics of the weapon as a whole. The arsenal is broad and strong from energy weapons to grenade launchers, three-round auto-shotguns, and assault rifles. Every type of weapon is covered and they all feel great and unique, you will constantly switch up weapons for different enemies. Enemies are well thought out this time around and are evenly balanced with health. I felt like the difficulty didn’t jump around so much like the last game, the entire game was challenging with a hard section towards the end of each level.

The gameplay also changes with each level as you enter different environments. On some levels you’re underwater a lot, some have you wearing environment suits, and on some you’re weaponless. The entire campaign is mixed up and feels so smooth and well organized I just couldn’t get enough. Each enemy takedown feels satisfying, and I wanted to go out guns blazing, but stealth is easier to do in this game, so taking down commanders without sounding alarms was so awesome. Using takedown moves, ax throws, and silenced pistol shots were the way to go when you were heavily outnumbered. These areas in the last game were a chore to navigate and the enemy placement made it nearly impossible to get through a whole section without being detected.

My biggest complaint would be the level design. While the ideas were great, I got lost often and didn’t know where to go. Hallways all looked the same and there weren’t many landmarks to figure out where to go. The environments are beautifully created, but the layout is a bit dull. There’s at least plenty to do with optional objectives on the hub base, Das Hammer, and some endgame content to work through.

The visuals are stunning, especially on PC with all settings cranked up to the max. Great lighting, textures, and highly detailed models made this game come to life. I honestly can’t recommend Wolfenstein II enough, it’s one of the greatest FPS games made in the last decade.

DOOM

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 06/11/2016

Posted in: Editor's Choice, Microsoft Consoles, Nintendo Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 4, Sony Consoles, Steam Deck Verification, Steam Deck Verified, Switch, Xbox One. Tagged: bethesda, doom, fps, id software, pc, playstation, ps4, xbox one. Leave a comment

Publisher: Bethesda Softworks

Developer: id Software

Release Date: 5/13/2016

Also Available On

Well, 2016 seems to be a great year for the comeback of shooters. First Overwatch, now DOOM (well in reviewing order). DOOM could have gone so bad, so quickly. However, id Software went back to its roots, updated it for the 2016 technology, and gave the middle finger to all the rest of the stuff plaguing the genre. DOOM is by far one of the best FPS games I have played in over a decade. It’s fast-paced, challenging, fun, full of secrets for veterans, and is just plain old shooting.

The game actually does have a bit of a story and it’s done just right to where it won’t get in the way of the shooting. You play Doomguy, a UAC Marine, who has to help a robot scientist, named Hayden, stop another researcher from bringing Hell to Earth. Amanda Pierce let the tech and religious aspect of Hell get to her and it overran the advanced Mars facility. Most of the story is told through logs which are actually the best way of keeping the story from getting in the way or becoming a train wreck. There are few cutscenes in DOOM, and when they play out, they are a nice break from the challenging gunplay. It’s light and crisp and isn’t stale ever which is great for the genre. Too many games, Battlefield, and Call of Duty, in particular, try to do this Hollywood sci-fi script of I don’t know what the hell to impress the edgy gamers out there. It doesn’t work, it’s a train wreck, and those stories are a complete mess. The FPS genre is relying too heavily on story and not enough on gameplay.

With that said, DOOM is just like you remembered all those years ago — forget about Doom 3. As soon as I took control of Doomguy I was in heaven. It’s fast-paced, controls amazingly well, and the guns feel fantastic. The slow build-up of your arsenal makes you smile every time you acquire a new weapon. Seeing Doomguy pick up the shotgun brought a “Hell Yeah” smile to my face. Seeing the chainsaw rip through enemies just gave me satisfaction in a shooter I haven’t felt in years. There’s a strong arsenal and not all classic weapons return; a majority are new. The chaingun is fun, the heavy assault rifle, and the gauss rifle is just so much fun. DOOM starts bringing the series into 2016 with weapons mods and Praetor Suit upgrades. These seem unnecessary at first, but with the way, the enemies are balanced and maps are laid out you feel you need them. Each weapon has two different mods which are incredibly helpful. The shotgun can get exploding buckshot or a three-round burst. There’s no reloading ammo in the game so the R key is used for switching between mods. To keep things balanced, there’s a mod switching animation so going into combat with what you want is necessary.

Let’s talk enemies. The game is chock-full of them and all the classics return. Pinkies, Hell Knights, Cacodemons, Imps, etc. They look fantastic, blow up great, and the game is so gory and full of detail. The game isn’t the most technically impressive as some textures are lacking, but the game has incredible lighting, and the game runs at a nice smooth clip at 60 FPS. It does require the latest PC hardware to run at maxed-out settings with Nightmare textures needing a GTX 980 or higher as it requires 6GB of VRAM. If you have the rig, you’re going to be in for a visual spectacle. I also have to commend the audio. The explosions, gunfire, enemy sounds, and gory splats are fantastic. The game also has the good ‘ol heavy metal soundtrack with a techno twist. This is one of the best video game soundtracks this year.

DOOM’s level design is actually very old school and it works well here. Each level is made up of arenas with linear hallways in between. 50 % of the fun in DOOM is finding all the secrets thanks to the excellent map. Once you find the Auto Map all secrets are revealed, but they are still challenging to find. You might see a collectible floating in the air, but you have to find the right switch or path to get to it. I haven’t had this much fun finding collectibles and secrets in a game in a very long time. It was done right here and not forced. Everything you miss can be reacquired by replaying levels. DOOM also features a new Rune Trial mode which are super fun mini-games of sorts that are quite challenging. I was able to beat them all through the first play-through, but a few proved tough. You get timed to complete certain goals such as killing a certain amount of enemies under certain circumstances. They change up the pace and are a warm welcome to the series.

Multiplayer is a bit of a disappointment, but it’s not awful. It’s fun for quite a while, but won’t have you coming back months later like other shooters. You have your classic modes and it’s just plain old run and gun fun online. It just feels like it’s lacking something or something that needs adjusting. Hopefully, the next DOOM will address this issue or we get a stand-alone DOOM multiplayer suite.

DOOM is a fantastic shooter and one of the best to come out in the past ten years. It does have a few flaws, I forgot to mention Glory Kills which are melee kills used when an enemy is stunned and flashing. Pressing F can launch you towards the enemy to acquire health and ammo, but it’s overused quite a bit. Thankfully it’s totally optional and towards the end of the game the novelty wore off and I only used it for health and ammo. The game does get repetitive towards the end, but not in an overly bad way. It’s just part of the genre and series and is a staple that will never go away. Outside of these issues, the game is worth a full purchase.

History of History: World War II Shooter: Wolfenstein Series

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 05/04/2013

Posted in: Blogs, History of History: World War II. Tagged: 3d, apple, enemy territory, germany, history, id software, iOS, iphone, itunes, Microsoft, nazi, Nintendo, operation resurrection, pc, playstation, PlayStation 2, playstation 3, ps2, ps3, rpg, snes, tides of war, wolfenstein, world war ii, wwii, xbox, Xbox 360. Leave a comment

The World War II series continues with a lesser-known FPS franchise: Wolfenstein. Being id Software’s side project, it never got many sales and never really got the attention that Medal of Honor and Call of Duty got. It focused more on the supernatural and cult part of WWII. Everyone knows Hitler was into it and did a lot of experiments in this manner. Wolfenstein tells that story. It forgoes the D-Day reenactments and Pearl Harbor simulations. This is a more arcade shooter but still set in WWII.

Wolfenstein 3D

Release Date: 5/5/1992 — PC

GameRankings: PC: 40%

Sales: Unknown

Wolfenstein 3D was a good-looking game back in the day thanks to John Carmack’s programming magic. However, the game was boring and came before the famous Doom. It was unlike anything anyone had seen, a first-person shooter? No way! The game only received a couple of critic reviews but passed under everyone’s radar. The game was released about 15 years later as a remake and was slightly better.

Wolfenstein 3D

3/1994 — SNES

GameRankings: SNES: 58%

Sales: Unknown

Instead of creating a whole new game id Software went on a porting craze. They ported the game to every system that came out and it just never really kicked off. It was still boring and there were much better action games on the SNES. The SNES version was worse than the PC version because a lot was cut and it was edited. The faces were really low-res and it just looked awful. It shows that PC games just didn’t work on the SNES, and the game controlled terribly on the D-pad. However, id didn’t learn their lesson and continued to port it throughout the 90s.

Wolfenstein 3D

Release Date: 10/19/995 — 3DO

GameRankings: 3DO: 82%

Sales: <10,000

The 3DO may have been a failed system, but Wolfenstein 3D shined on it, and out shown the PC version. It had fully orchestrated music, better graphics, and the ability to load and delete saves. This was the best version to get and many issues were ironed out here. Of course, no one really bought the 3DO and the game continued to see a small market and garner low sales.

Return to Castle Wolfenstein

Release Date: 11/20/2001 — PC

GameRankings: PC: 86%

Sales: Unknown

Wolfenstein didn’t see a new sequel until almost ten years after the original. It was reimagined using state-of-the-art 3D technology and was a huge hit with PC gamers. Wolfenstein finally go the attention it deserved and became one of the best-selling PC games of the time. It was praised for its amazing multiplayer and the single-player was solid as well. While Medal of Honor was doing well on PlayStation, Wolfenstein got to the PC first before Allied Assault blew players away.

Wolfenstein 3D

Release Date: 3/31/2002 –GBA

GameRankings: GBA: 60%

Sales: 170,000

id tried again on the GBA, it had the technology to run the original, and playing the game on the go seemed like a great idea, but the problems with the first game were ported over as well. It had 60 levels but could be beaten in a few days, it also offered no multiplayer which was possible with the GBA Link Cable. Why id just ported the game straight over it beyond me, it was a solid shooter on the GBA, which there were few of, but it just needed something extra. However, it was at least better than the awful Medal of Honor: Underground port.

Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War

Release Date: 5/6/2003 — Xbox

GameRankings: Xbox: 84%

Sales: 670,000

Tides of War was released before the anticipated PC expansion. Wolfenstein was at its peak in 2003, but the Xbox version was loved for the online multiplayer that was an Xbox Live subscription seller. 16 players online were the hot new thing in 2003 and Tides of War fared much better than the abysmal Operation Ressurection on PS2. The game looked much better and in fact, even better than on PC. This was probably the best Wolfenstein console game made.

Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory

Release Date: 5/29/2003 — PC

GameRankings: PC: 87%

Sales: Unknown

The official expansion was finally released 2 years later but was a bad time for the series because WWII heavy hitters were in full force. EA just released Battlefield 1942 and Medal of Honor had released Frontline a few months prior and Rising Sun was due out. Call of Duty was due out in October. Wolfenstein was in a sensitive position, but PC gamers ate it up. It was praised for multiplayer and the single-player was considered mediocre.

Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Operation Ressurection

Release Date: 5/30/2003 — PS2

GameRankings: PS2: 69%

Sales: 530,000

Wolfenstein hadn’t done well on consoles and Ressurection didn’t help that. The original RtCW was ported over but was missing the multiplayer, the game was heavily criticized for this. It doesn’t help that the textures looked terrible and animations were awful. The game bombed and didn’t do very well, probably for a good reason.

Wolfenstein RPG

Release Date: 5/11/2009 — iPhone

GameRankings: iPhone: 87%

Sales: <10,000

Wolfenstein made a comeback in 2009 with a reboot and to get fans excited they released an RPG on phones and re-released Wolfenstein 3D on Xbox 360 and PS3. RPG was very well received for capturing the addictive style of the first game, but with improved graphics and RPG features which was seen in Doom RPG. I personally loved the game, but it was very hard. The RPG elements added a whole new layer of depth to the game and sold very well.

Wolfenstein 3D

Release Date: 6/4/2009 — PS3, X360

GameRankings: PS3: 77%

X360: 62%

Sales: PS3, X360: <10,000

id just didn’t know when to quit with Wolfenstein 3D. No one liked it yet they thought a new generation of gamers would like it. The game suffered from the same issues as the PC version. It was boring and just so dated no one really cared. The superior RPG came out the previous month so why bother with this? Wolfenstein was actually the most ported WWII shooter, and one of the worst.

Wolfenstein

Release Date: 8/18/2009 — PC, PS3, X360

GameRankings: PC: 74%

PS3, X360: 73%

Sales:

X360: 580,000

PS3: 520,000

PC: 20,000

The reboot finally came. After tons of mediocre ports, everyone was curious about this one. The game looked really good, but it was the same WWII crap we were already tired of. The genre finally died in 2008, yet id Software thought it would be cute to release this. Maybe a few years prior this would have been welcomed, but just fell flat and felt average. The game had mazy levels, the weapons didn’t feel very great, and the story was pretty bad. It’s worth a play-through, but don’t expect anything amazing. I enjoyed the game a little, but after one play through I was done. The game sold just over a million copies and was the most successful Wolfenstein to date.

So there you have it. Wolfenstein was a weird series. The first game was ported for almost a decade then it came back in 2003 pretty strong on the PC but had bad console ports (Tides of War was pretty good). After a hiatus, it came back in 2009 but brought the stinky 3D game with it that no one wanted. So what of Wolfenstein now? No one has heard hide nor hair of the series since 2009. The series to date has sold just about 2.5 million copies which is not a lot for a long-running franchise. Will we see another on next-generation consoles? No one knows, Wolfenstein has a very small fan base and everyone is tired of WWII.

Doom 3: BFG Edition

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 12/01/2012

Posted in: Android, Microsoft Consoles, Mobile Reviews, Nintendo Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Sony Consoles, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One. Tagged: bfg edition, classic, doom, doom 3, fps, horror, id software, john carmack, shooter. Leave a comment

Publisher: Bethesda Softworks

Developer: id Software

Release Date: 10/16/2012

Also Available On

Doom may be the father of first-person shooters, but like the eldest man, you can’t teach it new tricks (or was that old dogs?) I was really excited about this compilation because I expect a nice HD upgrade to Doom 3 and a lot of cool extras, but nothing like that exists. Instead, we get all three Dooms just thrown together with 3D capabilities for Doom 3. What a waste of money and time. This is pretty much for people who have never touched Doom before, but if you have played them all just skip this. I will talk about each Doom game separately so here we go!

Doom 3

I didn’t have a high-end PC when this was released so I got stuck with the Xbox version. It wasn’t all that great then and still isn’t. The game is very straightforward, linear, and lacks the fast pace of older Dooms. There’s barely a story holding all this together and one of the biggest issues with the last two games plagues this one: Confusing levels. I can’t tell you how many times I got lost in this game because every hallway looks the same. The guns are boring to shoot, the graphics (today) look terrible with really low-resolution textures, bad lighting effects, and cheap scares. The game doesn’t even capture the sick and twisted satanic cult stuff from previous games. There’s a lot of keycard finding and door opening like the last games, so is it even worth playing? Sure, the first time through is a bit fun, but if you played this once don’t bother again. BFG includes the Resurrection of Evil expansion which is just more of the same, but at least the environments are a bit different. There’s also no one playing online so you can pretty much forget that feature.

Doom

I had more fun with the older Dooms than I did with 3 mainly because I never played them before. The pace is really fast and it just looks more interesting and is more fun to play. New gamers may be put off by the 2D graphics or the fact that you don’t aim up and down, just point at the character and shoot. The biggest issue with this series is the stupid keycard finding and switch find. The levels are laid out so poorly that you always get lost for longer than you should. The best levels were the few that didn’t have switches or keycards. There is also a very small enemy variety which makes shooting boring after a while, and Doom has 3 expansions to play through. Each expansion looks different but is utterly the same with nothing new added. This is a classic game though and should be played by every FPS fan out there.

Doom II

Not much changed from the original except a couple new enemies and different levels. Doom II was shorter-lived than the first game with only one expansion but contained 21 levels. Doom II is still worth a playthrough because it is mindless shooting that is fast-paced and just entertaining. These games are meant to be played in short bursts and not hours at a time or you will get bored.

As it stands, BFG Edition is really disappointing with no upgrades or extras. I at least expected Doom 3 to be upgraded to HD with a cleanup job, but none of that exists. Why id was so lazy with this is beyond me, but they have been pretty lazy lately (the terrible Quake 4 and Rage are examples) I do not recommend buying this if you have played any Doom before. This is for people who have never touched a Doom game and are interested. For the low price point, it is a good bargain, but fans will be sorely disappointed.

2011 Game of the Year Awards Round-Up

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 12/26/2011

Posted in: 2011, Game of the Year Awards. Tagged: 2011, action, adventure, alice, arkham city, artistic, atmosphere, awards, batman, battlefield 3, best, codemasters, comics, DC, dice, directx 11, dirt 3, disappointing game, dishwasher, downloadable, driving, elder scrolls, epic games, fatality, fighter, fighting, fps, game of the year, gears of war 3, graphics, id software, la noire, madness returns, mortal kombat, multiplayer, music, new character, nominated, origins, pc, platformer, playstation, playstation 3, portal 2, ps3, puzzle, rage, rayman, rockstar games, round up, rpg, Sega, shogun 2, shooter, skyrim, Sony, sound design, steam microsoft, story, strategy, technical, total war, valve, vampire smile, voice acting, xbox, Xbox 360. Leave a comment

Don’t want to look through each reward category? Here’s a round-up of Binary Messiah’s 2011 Game of the Year Awards.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Awarded

Game of the Year
Best RPG
Best Music

Nominated

Best Atmosphere

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Gears of War 3

Awarded

Best Shooter
Best Story

Nominated

Game of the Year
Best Atmosphere
Best Sound Design

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Total War: Shogun 2

Awarded

Best Strategy

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Mortal Kombat

Awarded

Best Fighter

Nominated

Game of the Year

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Portal 2

Awarded

Best Puzzler
Best Voice Acting
Best New Character

Nominated

Game of the Year
Best Music
Best Story
Best Multiplayer

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Rayman Origins

Awarded

Best Platformer

Nominated

Game of the Year
Best Graphics, Artistic

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DiRt 3

Awarded

Best Driving

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Batman: Arkham City

Awarded

Best Action

Nominated

Game of the Year
Best Voice Acting
Best Atmosphere

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Battlefield 3

Awarded

Best Sound Design
Best Graphics, Technical
Best Multiplayer

Nominated

Game of the Year
Best Shooter

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L.A. Noire

Awarded

Best Atmosphere

Nominated

Game of the Year
Best Voice Acting
Best New Character
Best Action

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Alice: Madness Returns

Awarded

Best Graphics, Artistic

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The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile

Awarded

Best Downloadable Game

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Rage

Awarded

Most Disappointing Game

Nominated

Best Platformer

2011 Game of the Year Awards — Achievements — Most Disappointing Game

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 12/22/2011

Posted in: 2011, Game of the Year Awards. Tagged: 2011, 360, achievements, awards, best, bethesda, brink, call of juarez, duke nukem, forever, fps, game of the year, gearbox, hunted, id software, Microsoft, most disappointing game, pc, playstation, playstation 3, ps3, rage, rpg, shooter, Sony, steam, the cartel, the demon's forge, xbox. Leave a comment

The first thing that needs to be known is that the most disappointing isn’t the worst. These are games that were greatly hyped and had so much promised, but in the end, didn’t deliver any of it. These games are playable, but barely enjoyable, but also not really terrible either. There weren’t too many disappointing games this year, but the ones that were really made an impact this year.

Rage

Rage had such strong potential over all the disappointing games this year. It had the atmosphere, guns, and even the developer behind it…like the inventor of first-person shooters id Software and they managed to screw this up. The PC version got hit the worst with bugs and glitches that are so bad id won’t even bother patching them. The console versions saw some frame rate issues, but overall better graphics were promised, a fully open-world area to explore, and the game is very repetitive with a terrible ending. Rage put me down more than any game this year so shame on id.

Runner-Ups

Call of Juarez: The Cartel

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Duke Nukem Forever

Brink

Hunted: The Demon’s Forge

Rage

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 11/23/2011

Posted in: Microsoft Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 3, Sony Consoles, Steam Deck Unsupported, Steam Deck Verification, Xbox 360. Tagged: directx 11, fps, id software, pc, rage, shooter, steam. Leave a comment

Publisher: Bethesda Softworks

Developer: id Software

Release Date: 10/4/2011

Also Available On

I have to come right out of the gate and say Rage is probably one of the most disappointing games I have played all year. With all the hype about the amazing and revolutionary graphics engine and weapon system that id Software (the inventors of first-person shooters) has made, you would think they would fall through. The game completely is a 180 of what id Software said the game would be like. The first thing you will notice is the enormous amount of bugs and game-breaking glitches, especially for ATI card users. The graphics will literally be completely distorted, or the entire game will be blue. How do you fix this? Extract a file from the graphics driver update and put it in the Rage folder. Or you can fiddle around with Catalyst Control Center, or how about the game not even running right unless you have it open? This is completely absurd and should not be like this upon release. I spent a total of four hours fixing this damn game so I could just play it. So you’re probably asking is it worth it?

Well, the shooting is solid and that’s a fact. id know what they are doing and the guns are great and super fun to use. You can upgrade them at stores in towns, and use various ammo types because the enemies do need different approaches. This is by no means a straight-up stand in one area and shoots everything. You will die quickly so use what you have available to your advantage. Guns like assault rifles use regular steel rounds and felt rite rounds which are more expensive but more powerful. The shotgun can use buckshot, but also pulse rounds and pop rockets which act like explosive shells. You get a rocket launcher, a sniper rifle, and a pistol that shoots four different types of ammo. There’s a decent amount of guns in the game and you slowly unlock them as the game goes on.

Shooting enemies are fun because each weapon packs a punch and feels good to shoot. Enemies have great animations and fight worth a damn so the game isn’t too easy. There are even some pretty fun boss fights as well. The enemy variety is pretty low, however, you get maybe five different kinds through the whole game with some just swapping out outfits such as different bandit groups. The whole point of Rage is to run around the world and explore dungeons to complete various mission types. The dungeons are varied and have a lot of loot in them to engineer items such as bandages, wing sticks (boomerangs that are instant kills!), sentry bots, RC cars that explode, ammo, grenades, and a whole slew of things you can build in your menu while you’re on the field. This can be really fun and encourage exploring every corner for junk to sell or use.

Now you’re probably wondering how the game is like an open world? While the game has a great art style and feels a lot like Fallout that it is trying to copy it isn’t in any way. The game has a nice post-apocalyptic art style and has some great designs and pulls of atmosphere, but it falls short because the game has a false sense of freedom. The outdoor areas must be driven (more on car combat later) and cannot be traversed by foot because for one it will take forever, and on the other cars will kill you instantly almost. The world has a lot of “hallways” that you can drive in that lead to each dungeon, but by no means is it a free open world like Fallout at all.

This tends to be very depressing because you can see all this great open land, but it’s barren and closed off by cliffs and walls around you. I mean there are only three towns in the whole game, and they are spread out in two different areas that you have to load between. There is a nice amount of side missions as well as races that involve the over-hyped car combat. You drive your car, which controls very well, and does various races to earn certificates to upgrade your vehicle so you can survive out in the “wasteland”. The combat is fine and all but mainly serves as just a way to get to your missions in the “open world” because car combat out here is far and few between.

I also had a problem connecting to characters because you don’t talk to them much and they really just give you missions. I also had a problem connecting to the story because while it has potential, it falls short with a terrible and lame ending, plus it just ends abruptly with a poor final mission with no boss fight. Some of the side missions are probably more interesting than the main missions. Overall you’re looking at a 15-hour campaign even if you complete every side mission. I also have to mention that the graphics look good, but there are better-looking games out there thanks to Rage’s weird low-resolution texture problem, but there are some really nice lighting effects throughout.

Overall Rage is a buggy, broken technical mess that most people will just give up on. However, the game has solid shooting, excellent weapon design, and engineering stuff is really fun. The false sense of freedom and so-so car combat really bring the game down to just a mediocre experience that will not leave an imprint like Doom or Quake did all those years ago. Sorry id but try, try again.

Wolfenstein

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 05/10/2010

Posted in: Microsoft Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 3, Sony Consoles, Xbox 360. Tagged: fps, id software, Microsoft, multiplayer, ocult, online, shooter, unreal, wolfenstein, wwii, xbox, Xbox 360. Leave a comment

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Raven, id Software

Release Date: 8/18/2009

Also Available On

id Software is famous for creating the FPS genre with Doom and Wolfenstein. Wolfenstein is a little different from your typical WWII game. The game is wrapped around the paranormal, so you’re not going to get another Call of Duty or Medal of Honor. The game is entirely fictional, so it lets the Raven use fact and fiction and kind of mix them. You play BJ Blazkowicz who is an American secret agent trying to stop the Third Reich from using the Black Sun as a weapon to rule the world. Sounds cliche? Well, it kind of is, but it’s interesting enough and has a very small plot twist at the end that makes the whole story worthwhile. You are working for resistance factions known as the Kraisau Circle and the Golden Dawn.

Wolfenstein isn’t just a linear run and gun shooter. In fact, the game is a bit sand boxy in the sense that you can choose your missions, and getting to them requires running around the city, fighting your way through Nazis, and getting the right sections. While I found this kind of pointless since there are only half a dozen side missions, it makes it different from most shooters. The game has four different powers you can use as well as a whole new weapon upgrade system.

The four powers consist of slowing down time, shield, Empower, and the basic passive power that can let you go through certainly marked walls, climb hidden ladders and see energy pools, as well as highlight enemies in the dark and reveal bigger enemies weak points. You will use all these weapons, but not as often as you’d like. You can upgrade your powers at the Black Market buildings, but finding gold is a pain since it’s all hidden and the only way t upgrade everything 100% is to find every sack of gold in the game and there are over 200. The same goes for intelligence files and Tomes that let you unlock more power upgrades. I just find hidden items in shooters pointless since you’re concentrating on not dying yet you’re also supposed to hunt for crap? I don’t like it. The powers must be used during boss fights and to get through some enemies.

Upgrading your weapons are really fun since we have never had a WWII game that uses real WWII weapons that can have silencers attached to them and scopes. Of course, there are fictional weapons such as particle cannons, tesla guns, and a flak cannon. All these are slowly acquired as you play the game and each weapon is fun to use way the weapon’s efficiency is solely up to how you upgrade.

The levels are pretty varied, but they all look the same. The graphics are very nice, but there’s not really an art style here. All the levels are pretty much laid out the same: Kill these Nazis, figure out how to get past this obstacle, kill more Nazis, blow this up, and kill the boss. Rinse and repeat for about 8-10 hours. This doesn’t mean the game gets boring since all the is scrambled up quite often so you get the illusion that it’s not the same thing over and over again.

There is some enemy variety in the human form. Each is the same except some are wearing different uniforms, but it’s the supernatural enemies that you should worry about. There are assassins that will sneak up on you and slash you to death if you don’t use your powers to spot them quickly. There are powerful generals that shoot fireballs and pound the ground and they will kill you fast. You have sexy Nazi chicks that do extreme melee on you unless you’re fast. There are guys with flamethrowers and particle cannons that use must find the weak spots to defeat. That’s about it though and you can throw creepy monkey dogs in there too. The enemy variety is a bit thin, but these guys work.

The boss fights are pretty amusing and some are just downright hard. You just figure out their weak spot and what weapon works best when it’s easy from there. So overall the structure of the game is sound with your main missions branching off the city of Isenstadt where you go get your missions from the two resistance factions. The game is well worth the purchase, but you won’t really come back to this and not even for multiplayer since no one’s even playing, and even if there were it’s pretty generic.

Wolfenstein offers great gameplay, a decent story, and just a good solid 8-10 hours, but you won’t be coming back to this one unless you really want to find all the hidden items.

Quake 4

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 10/05/2009

Posted in: Mac, Microsoft Consoles, PC Reviews, Steam Deck Playable, Steam Deck Verification, Xbox 360. Tagged: fps, horror, id software, Microsoft, monsters, multiplayer, online, quake 4, scary, shooter, slideshow, xbox, Xbox 360. Leave a comment

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Raven Software

Release Date: 11/18/2005

Also Available On

This marks the fourth installment in Johnny Boy’s Quake brainchild. Running all the way back to 1994 Quake was kind of a “palette swap of Doom” and its strong point being multiplayer. Quake 4 changes that with an excellent single-player experience. Unlike Doom 3 Quake 4 is more of an “on-rails shooter” where it guides you through a lot of scary and tense scripted events. These work for the game and separate it from its brethren. You play Kane who is a soldier that has to help stop the Strogg invasion by destroying them at their core; the Nexus. As you make your way to the Nexus you can pick up a ton of cool weapons, and upgrades, and even turn into a Strogg yourself. The weapons range from your piddly blaster to a dark matter gun. You have your railgun, a nailgun, shotgun, lightning gun, etc.

Throughout the campaign, you can unlock upgrades for these weapons like clip extenders, scopes, and extra damage. This lets you easily change your strategy around what gun works in what situation. The game has some pretty neat enemies types ranging from Grunts that rush you with their bulky bodies or Berserker who are all about melee. You have floating enemies that shoot rockets at you, you have giant spider robots, and you even have massive Strogg with shields and railguns. These are all gruesome-looking enemies that are both terrifying to look at and really fun to fight. The game sports great AI with enemies dodging your shots and ducking behind cover. Each enemy has to be taken care of differently, so you have had five weaker enemies and two guys with railguns. You take the five weaker ones out with a grenade or a rocket then deal with the railgun guys with your dark matter gun, or you can shoot rockets at their feet. This allows you to create a strategy that works best for you. I just really love the atmosphere Quake 4 delivers. You’ll walk through rooms and lights will dim and enemies will run across corridors, your teammates will get dragged off and tortured, and there are also some really cool vehicle sections. You either mount a machine gun, drive a tank, or a mech. All handle really well and these sections are both fun and challenging. This is a nice change to Quake which has always been on foot.

Now when it comes to multiplayer the game is fun, but nothing really special. What doesn’t help is no one is playing online (which really sucks) and the one map I did play was really boring. The game does have a lot of downfalls though. The game does have major frame rate issues but isn’t as bad as what people say. It only bothered me a few times in the game. The graphics are really good yet the Doom 3 engine is really dated and can’t be pushed any further. While the game does have weapons upgrades and vehicle sections the game still feels redundant and has the dumbest ending ever. So, if you want a good single-player experience it’s worth a rental or purchase (it’s less than $10 everywhere) then play Quake 4.

Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 10/05/2009

Posted in: Microsoft, PC Reviews, Retro Consoles, Steam Deck Unknown, Steam Deck Verification, Xbox. Tagged: doom 3, expansion, fps, horror, id software, monsters, multiplayer, online, resurrection of evil, scary, shooter. Leave a comment

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Nerve Software, id Software

Release Date: 10/5/2005

Also Available On

I remember when Doom 3 came out for the PC in 2004 and it looked astounding. Compared to today it’s a bit ugly, but it did shine on the Xbox. While, even on the Xbox, it looks dated the game keeps a constant focus on the action. Through the whole 5-6 hours it takes you to beat the game you’ll be on your edge and jumpy.

The graphics engine is exactly the same as Doom 3, even the way it plays. The only additions are a few new enemies such as a big burly guy who has two giant cannons on his arms and head, Vulgar who is a bat-looking thing that can teleport at you, and the Hazmat worker, just to name a few. You also get some new weapons like the Ionized Plasma Rifle (Think: Gravity Gun Half-Life 2), Double-Barrel Shotgun, and a new Heart Artifact that lets you slow downtime. These essentially help the game with its extreme difficulty in many ways. You now get a flashlight on a gun! Except it’s on your pistol so it still doesn’t make a difference, but at least you can defend yourself now. You now have to defeat the bosses using the Heart and it also gets you out of a pinch.

The “Gravity Gun” lets you throw back energy balls and whatnot and this is good to preserve ammo. The story has you playing as a clean-up crew for what happened on Site 1 two years ago. You discover the Heart and you have to return it to Hell. While there are very few cut scenes in the game and the PDA files aren’t as interesting as in Doom 3 you’ll mainly just play for the action. Another note is that NO ONE is playing this online. I tried connecting three days in a row and not one person was playing. So if you just want a great fun single-player game then pick this up. I also should mention the game has backward compatibility issues with the Xbox 360 such as movies in the beginning not skipping and some slowdown.