Author Archives: iRogan

iReview – FORZA HORIZONS 2 PRESENTS FAST & FURIOUS – More Like Glorified Demo

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….But why is it a separate game?

Title: Forza Horizons 2 Presents Fast and Furious
Developer: Playground Games
Platform: Xbox One
Publisher: Microsoft
Reviewed on: Xbox One

I’d previous reviewed Forza Horizons 2, and really, really liked it. It bested its predecessor in every way, and brought to the table what I like best in a racer. Forza Horizons 2 has since seen multiple car packs and a 2nd area DLC package in Storm Island. Storm Island brought with it a few new rally cars and rally car modifications, new championship races, new bucket lists, a brand new area, as mentioned, and new weather systems. $20 was the asking price, which is a little steep, but 50% for those who had the VIP season pass. The Storm Island DLC’s map added new types or terrain, more hills and off road segments. The DLC brought with it some modifications to the races themselves. Rally inspired. Ramps, and obstacles. Things like that.

“Storm Island is an enjoyable addition to say the least.”

Next came the announcement that Forza Horizons 2 would have a Fast and Furious movie tie in. And available for free for the first few weeks nonetheless. Sounded great. New inspired cars tied to the franchise, but not much else was really mentioned. Were there going to be actor’s involved? Story ties? Whats the point?

ForzaHorizon2FastAndFurious

Well, sadly nothing else was included. The Fast and Furious movie tie-in version was released as a separate game, with its own achievements. and its own place in the game library. So what is it then? It’s not DLC. It’s a glorified demo.

The game starts you off as a newb who’s never played Forza. Tells you how Horizons 2 ended. and then proceeds to tell you how to accelerate, brake, and rewind. It gives you the driving line, and it even starts you off the same way Forza Horizons 2 does, in the Lambo. And now go drive to Nice, newbie.

It brings a new narrator, and some new music tracks. It gives you the Horizons 2 map, and it tasks you with the goal of chasing down and winning 10 vehicles. Cars, big surprise, from the Fast and Furious movie.

It brings back all the staples of the original game, with the discount boards, the bucket lists, screenshot mode, and after a while the online modes.

Lastly are the showcase races, which I believe are the only actual ties to the movie. First is a race against a Black Hawk Helicopter, and then at the end is the race with the Cargo Plane.

The game is an authentic view of what the full Forza Horizons 2 game brings. With Fast and Furious it brings 10 vehicles to Horizons‘ 200, roughly 30 races to Horizons‘ 700+.

“Free for now, but soon it turns into a $10 demo.”

For those who like easy achievements, Forza Horizons, or free movie tie-in games.

Notable Achievements:
Fast and Furious (Get to Nice) – 100G
Selfie! (Take a photo of the 1970 Dodge Charger R/T) – 30G

iReview – #IDARB – Loss of Words

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What is this? A center for ants?

Title: #IDARB
Developer: Other Ocean Interactive
Publisher: Other Ocean Interactive
Platform: Xbox One
Reviewed on: Xbox One

#IDARB or I Draw a Red Box is a strange game. At its most basic, its a competitive 2D platforming sports game, allowing anywhere from 1 V 1 up to 4 V 4. The premise is that each team has a goal, and there’s a ball, and the object of the game is to get the ball in the goal.

Simple enough right?

Game On!

Game On!

The playing field is neither square nor simple, as it is filled with platforms to help navigate around (some which you can pass through, others you can not) as the goals are elevated. Each team has a goal zone on either side and the ball gets dropped down the middle. The players can jump and double jump and stomp on one another. When they have the ball, they can carry it, or shoot it, or pass to another player. When they don’t have the ball, players have a little shock wave attack. This will knock other players or kick the ball away from the ball carrier. Jumping on a player will stun them, and reverse their controls temporarily.

All the while, the announcer is spewing out crazy movie quotes.

“#IDARB is a competitive 2D platforming sports game.”

The game also has a penalty box to punish players who try to play goalie and sit in the goal for too long, or those who spam the attack button. You’re sent to the penalty box for 30 seconds, and these are located directly beneath the arena. When in the penalty box you can still move around and if you hit the floor directly beneath a player who’s on the bottom of the arena, you can swap places. Nasty trick.

Walking the ball into the goal will net you one point, shooting it, two. When you’re around the general vicinity of the goal, a point multiplier overlay will show up, where the further you shoot from, the more the shot is worth: 2, 3, and 5 points. Like basketball, I think? In addition, the game also counts the ball bouncing off other players or platforms as a multiplier, also like basketball, I’m pretty sure.

For example: shooting the ball and bouncing it off 2 platforms will net a 3x multiplier, couple this with a 5 point shot, and the score can get pretty high. These however are not the easiest to pull off as the aiming mechanic is limited, and the game quite frantic.

Frantic should be the name of the game, as the game gets real confusing real quick, especially with more players. As simple as the gameplay is, it will typically breakdown to a young kids soccer match where a cluster of players just follow the ball. And then its just a scrum, a ball, and lots of shock waves. You will very easily lose track of your own character as all the players are the same size, and look similar.

The game has a single player mode which is a series of challenge matches, but the main focus is the multiplayer, either local or online.

The game is broken up into 4 90-second rounds, but the players don’t switch sides. There is a halftime intermission with small mini-games. The players take part in space ship battles, or tank wars, or a game of tug-a-war. The results of the halftime games are nothing than a laugh, and afterwards you jump right back into the mayhem.

What is your favourite colour?

What is your favourite colour?

The game also features a deep creation section, allowing you to create your own characters, theme music and logos. What’s really cool about this is that each song, character and logo has its own unique QR code that you can post online or share with friends so they can download their creations and import them into your game, or vice-versa. Then you can create your team, with your choice of characters, logo and winning song.

“Frantic should be the name of the game.”

Lastly is the games social media tethering, specifically Twitch and Twitter. Every time you start up a new match, it gets coded with a unique hashtag identifier found at the top corner. If your game is being streamed to Twitch, people watching can comment on your game using the hashtag and it will read along the bottom as you’re playing. This can also be done through twitter by messaging @idarbwire and the hashtag. This is a cool novelty that can turn sideways, as the game ALSO allows hashtag game modifiers, or hashbombs.

These hashbombs can be as innocent as visual changes to the characters, turning them Red vs Blue for example, adding portals to the game, or filling the arena with water. Some can be a little more malicious, such as turning the ball into a bomb, that, when exploded, will send the closest player to the penalty box, or adding sharks to the platforms. These are definitely fun to play with friends, and messing with their game.

There’s a neat twitterbot that will crawl the twitter feeds for incoming twitter messages, and will occasionally attack your game too. Unexpectedly funny.

Choose Your Champion!

Choose Your Champion!

All in all, the game is a fun little co-op/competitive throw-away arcade game. For what it is, it’s a true blast to play. Outside of the local co-op/competitive however, there’s not much else to it, but it’ll remain a fixture to game nights for a while.

For those who like seizures, arcade soccer/basketball, and ruining your friend’s good time.

Notable Achievements:
Boom Goes the Dynamite (Score a 15 Point Shot) – 100G
Just Like Having a Baby (Create 20 or more characters in the character creator) – 75G

Tales from the iRogan – Episode Wednesday

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Tales From the Borderlands is the first Telltale Games’ game that I’ve played since The Walking Dead Season One. To be honest, I didn’t really like The Walking Dead game. I found it too slow paced with characters that weren’t interesting, and puzzles that were boring.

Executive Vice Janitor

Executive Vice Janitor

It set the bar low for what to expect from Telltale games in my case, and I haven’t, to this day, made it past Season One Episode Two. A failing on my part, I’m sure, as I’ve heard many a good thing about the series.

Late last year I purchased the Telltale bundle on the Xbox One hoping I would get into the games provided. I had heard good things about The Wolf Among Us, Borderlands, and Game of Thrones. So I bought it, and then waited.

As mentioned in earlier posts, I typically buy a lot of games, and don’t necessarily get to them in a timely manner. Now that I had excess HDD space I am now able to install these games, and at least try them out, get a feel, before diving into, head game first.

Tales from the Borderlands is a hell of a lot of fun, and I’m disappointed in myself for waiting so long. I’ve always loved the Borderlands games. They’re fun, fine tuned, and hilarious. The Telltale game is no different. It flows along the same Telltale formula: story-centric, some quick time events and dialogue choices. But it’s so good. And it has many interesting characters, and plenty of surprises. I’ve just about wrapped Episode 1, and excited to jump into Ep 2, so I’ll have a quick review up for it next week. Tomorrow I’ll have a piece written on #IDARB.

Onto some news, which, curiously includes some Borderlands. How quaint.

25 Keys of Borderlands, Please

With the release of the Handsome Collection, Gearbox is giving away a cache of golden keys. The codes can be found on the Gearbox Facebook Page, and can be redeemed in-game on the console of your choice, on both Borderlands 2 and the Pre-Sequel. You don’t need the Handsome Collection to redeem the codes. They expire March 31st!!!

Mine On, Minecon.

Microsoft announced today that they will not be interfering with the annual Minecraft convention in July, even though they now own the Minecraft IP.

A Microsoft spokesperson assured that Minecon 2015 would be run by Mojang the same way it has in the past, stating, “We’re playing a supporting role; we want to listen, learn, and be inspired by the community that has made Minecraft great.”

Borderlands 2 Makes Millions of Dollars

Randy Pitchford announced today that Borderlands 2 sales have surpassed the 12 million mark. I’m assuming that’s including the repackaged version in the Handsome Collection.

Mystery Solved.

-iRogan

Everyone, Let’s Talk About Bloodborne

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I mean, EVERYONE is talking about Bloodborne….So I won’t.

Bloodborne

Today’s new releases are very slim. Barely even mentionable, save one key game.

  • Telltale’s Game of Thrones: Episode 3 –  A lot of chatter revolving around this game. I recently started playing Tales From the Borderlands, and I’m really enjoying it, so after I’ve completed episode 2, I’ll install Game of Thrones, and give it a run through. Apparently this episode includes Dragons, Oh My!
  • Bloodborne -PS4 game that I know nothing about. Like Dark Souls, this game appears to be a painful experience to play.
  • Borderlands: Handsome Collection – So Excited for this collection. I had previously played Borderlands 2 and the DLC on the 360 but waited on the Pre-Sequel for this very reason.

Xbox Games With Gold Sales

This week’s Xbox Games With Gold Sales include Forza Horizons 2, Call of Duty Advanced Warfare, Evolve, and WWE 2K15.

Quiet day with more to come tomorrow.

-iRogan

Everything is Teetering on the Edge of Everything

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Where have you been all my life?

This weekend, you may have noticed a short story, written from the perspective of the main character in Sniper Elite III (me) and my Co-op buddy in life, Illestrader. It was fun to write, but factually disproved as apparently snipers don’t hold their breath between shots. Who knew. I’m over it though. This example of a short story is something that I’ve wanted to do, and will continue to do, as it was a lot of fun to write. I’ve played plenty of games, single player and co-op, that can lend themselves to this hybrid personal-reflection/still-in-a-game format, so keep an eye out for more. Weekly or monthly, who knows.

Last week I mentioned an idea about some achievement hunting segments. Still working on the logistics, but I think it it’ll focus around a weekly segment towards a solitary achievement challenge, and my progress towards it. Maybe aiming for a specific achievement that week, or a gamerscore amount. New challenges every week. We’ll see.

Last week, in review: I spoke more about Cities: Skylines, the new games of the week, current games I’m playing, a Review for Never Alone, and a short story. I also discussed the purchase of an external HDD for my Xbox One to allow more games to be installed (this I will talk about today). And of course, the daily news. This week I expect more of the same.

As mentioned, I purchased an external HDD for my Xbox One. a Western Digital 3TB USB3 drive. Setup was extremely simple as it’s fully supported, and I transferred all the games off of the internal drive over to the external, hopefully relieving some of the stress to improve overall console performance. Including the Telltale Games Collection, I now have 44 games installed, with 2.3TB remaining, so this drive will keep me going for a while. The games load just fine, and I have yet to experience any problems playing a game off the hard-drive. As a result, I’ve also had the opportunity to try out some of the games I’ve been sitting on, due to space shortages. I’ve started playing Grand Theft Auto V and Far Cry 4. I’ll discuss those more in detail on Wednesday for the What I’m Playing segment.

I’m also continuing to optimize the site as I get used to WordPress. One section is the page functionality. A page I’ll be adding soon, is my screenshots page. I already have quite the collection of Forza Horizons 1 and 2 photos. Coming soon is Far Cry 4, and shortly after, Shadow of Mordor photos. Xbox One has a screen shot functionality, but currently no way of exporting them. But soon, I’ll be able to flesh out this idea further.

Tomorrow we’ll talk about the new games, Wednesday we’ll discuss what I’m playing in more detail (Tales from the Borderlands ❤ *wink*), Thursday I’ll have a review for #IDARB, and then we’ll talk about the week in review, and the joyful weekend.

Executive Vice Janitor

Executive Vice Janitor

But, I have some news to catch up on, so on-wards.

Oldies first:

Star Wars: Battlefront News and Views

EA has confirmed that the highly anticipated Star Wars: Battlefront will be shown off next month, between April 16th and 19th.

Remastered Wake?

Microsoft may be looking to release a remastered version of Alan Wake on the Xbox One. I really enjoyed the 360 version, but neglected to play any of the DLC, so if this pack includes it (which I’m sure it will) might be worth playing through again. We’ll have to see what the offer includes.

Hideo Kojima Leaving Konami 😥

Late last week, news starting breaking that Hideo Kojima was planning to leave Konami after Metal Gear Solid V was completed. Unfortunately not a lot of information was released besides the fact that Kojima confirmed that MGS V will be complete come September, and that this will be the last MGS game in the Snake story ark. Konami indicated that there will be more Metal Gear games in the future without Kojima’s involvement, and Metal gear Reveangence 2 was hinted. This is upsetting to me. I’ve always been a fan of Kojima and his MGS games. They are not, and will not be the same without him.

Kojima offered a few words, saying, “I am 100% involved and will continue working on Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain; I’m determined to make it the greatest game I’ve directed to date.” – Somewhat reassuring.

Konami has begun hiring developer to start work on a brand new Metal Gear series. No news on the Silent Hill game. Less reassuring.

Physical Wolfenstein

Back on March 4th, it was announced that a digital stand-alone sequel to Wolfenstein: The New Order was being released this May, titled The Old Blood. It has since been reiterated that a physical edition will be available on PS4 and PC, but will remain “digital only” on the Xbox One.

God of War 3 Remastered

One of the best looking games to be released on the PS3 is being re-released on the PS4 with the HD treatment and other improvements. Its a shame that it’s not a remastered trilogy. Maybe they couldn’t do it for technical reasons. Who knows. God of War III already looked beyond good when originally released, it’ll be interesting to see a comparison.

Batman and Arkham Knight News

Two playable DLC packs have been announced for Batman: Arkham Knight, Rocksteady’s epic conclusion to the Arkham trilogy. Red Hood has been announced as a playable character, likely for the challenge mode, and now Harley Quinn has been announced as the second DLC pack, which includes stand-alone story.

“With this exclusive Story Pack experience events in the lead-up to Arkham Knight as you infiltrate Blüdhaven to rescue your partner in crime: Poison Ivy. Delve deep into Harley’s demented nature and utilize her devastating baseball bat to smash, crash and bash your way to a friend very much in need.”

Also announced was that Arkham Knight has received a slight delay. The game is now scheduled for release on June 23rd.

How Dare You Make The Bat Wait

How Dare You Make The Bat Wait

In other remastered news (enough already), Batman Arkham Asylum and Arkham City are reportedly being remastered for the Xbox One and PS4.

Raven Software Tweet/Teases More Singularity

Singularity came out in 2010 and dealt with time travel, as one of the abilities of the player was to rewind the effect of time on objects. Neat concept and a really cool game to play. Raven Software has hinted that maybe they’re making a sequel, or is this another remastered edition?

The tweet reads “We’re going back,” followed by the hashtag #Katorga12 — a reference to the Russian island that served as the setting of Singularity.

Phew, lots of news to get caught up on.

See you tomorrow.

-iRogan