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WHAT i’M PLAYING/iReview – Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime

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Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime

“Wanna go to – wanna go to space.”

Publisher: Asteroid Base
Developer: Asteroid Base
Platform: Reviewed on Xbox One
Availability: Out on Xbox One and PC September 8th.

On a whim I picked up Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime last night, as my New Game Tuesday ritual dictates new games forever and always.

I’d previously seen the game at PAX Prime 2015 on display, but didn’t give it its due, instead only acknowledging its existence, and moving on. But after mentioning its launch yesterday in my wrap-up, and watching the trailer, I picked it up.

Sitting down and handing the 2nd controller to the person that lovingly sits beside me, we dove in together to this wonderfully coloured space game about rescuing lost bunnies. The game is part of the ID@Xbox initiative, and is about relationships.

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A relationship between you and your cumbersome spaceship traveling through tight corridors, gravitation orbits and asteroid fields. You must first manage your ship’s movements, but also simultaneously manage your character inside the ship’s interior, running from one terminal to the next, up and down ladders, trying to manage the engine, shield, and 5 different weapon booths.

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“WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE THING ABOUT SPACE?
MINE IS SPACE.”

Your view is a side interior shot of an ill designed ship. The steering wheel is in the middle and this maneuvers the engine when maned. The 4 weapon turrets reside at 4 fixed points on the border, in their own rooms. A power weapon, which rotates around the circumference of the ship is controlled in a 5th area. And lastly, there is the flawed shield – only covering about a quarter of the ship’s hull – and, again, is controlled from a separate corridor. You are well tooled to fight space, but are drastically understaffed. Crucial decisions are constantly being made in where to sit.

Because of these choices, the game is also about human relationships. Play with a friend or loved one, and you’ll both assume your astronaut roles, and together must wrestle the clunky ship through space and enemies alike. Success hinges a lot on communication, but almost instinctually, you might find that you’ve resigned yourself to a set routine – one controlling the weapons, the other controlling the engine and the shield when in defense, and a spare turret when overwhelmed. Sometimes it doesn’t work out as smooth, especially when utterly surrounded or on the run, and this is when the game gets frantic. In solo mode, you’re tasked with commanding the AI buddy around to man certain stations.

“WELL TOOLED TO FIGHT SPACE, BUT ARE DRASTICALLY UNDERSTAFFED”

As you find and save the kidnapped bunnies, and progress through each level you can find upgrade gems for the ship and terminals, and each gem can augment its respective station in unique ways. Power gems add more power or higher frequency turrets; Beam gems will change the weapon to a beam type or change the engine to a beam propulsion engine; the Metal gem with change the weapon into a morning star type or change the shield into a metal spiked shield, or augment the engine to lay spike traps in your wake. The game encourages experimentation as each terminal supports a gem, and upgrades to your ship will eventually allow dual gem augments, adding more variety.

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The game is equally fun and stressful, colourful and challenging. Make sure you bring a loving partner along for the ride, as this is a game best played in pairs, but even then, love is far from guaranteed.

-For those who like bunnies, stressful micromanagement games, or doing pirouettes aboard a space ship.

Notable Achievements
Space-man’s Best Friend (Beat any level with the help of your trusty space-pet) – 10G
Cooties (Finish a level without crossing paths with your partner) – 50G

-iRogan

WHAT i’M PLAYING/iReview – Lara Croft GO

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Lara Croft GO is a fun little mobile game developed by Square Enix. Similar in style to their previous game, Hitman GO (which I haven’t played yet, but will next).

The game is a puzzle platformer, and turn-based. Very striking up front is the visuals. Flat colours, but bright with some atmospheric lighting. Everything looks smooth but with great detail. The sounds are very soft and ambient.

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Designed for a touch screen, the controls are very simple. Each level has a pre-defined path as it is turn based, and as Lara, we can navigate anywhere along this path. A lot of times there are enemies in the way, and each enemy type has its own behavior, for example: snakes don’t move, and can only be attacked from the side or behind. The levels also have traps, obstacles and switches en route to the end of each chapter. In the turn-based fashion, we move Lara in a diagonal direction, and then everything in the level follows suit and moves along their defined path.

Progressing through the game is pretty straight forward. There are 5 chapters totally about 40 levels. The game starts off slow, almost a tutorial, but then picks up speed, and gets consistently more challenging through each completed level and chapter. There are also numerous collectibles to be found, and you can replay each level to ensure you’ve found them all. These will unlock alternate costumes.

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Lara Croft GO is a fun simple game that allows you to drop in and play a level or two, and then move on to more pressing business. The game only supports landscape mode, but is a great homage to the Tomb Raider games, Lara Croft, and puzzle games in general. Supported on both iOS and Android for roughly $5.

-iRogan

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iReview – FAR CRY 4 – Missing Things Are Missing

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Walk with me
Walk with me
Just like we should’ve done right from the start

Walk with me
Walk with me
Don’t let this f***ing world tear you apart

Title: Far Cry 4 – 2014
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Platform: Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, PC
Publisher: Ubisoft
Reviewed on: Xbox One

Far Cry 4 stars Ajay Ghale, a young Kyrati-American returned to his birthplace to bury his Mother’s ashes. What follows is a quick introduction to the Kyrati setting: its sprawling country side, mountains, lakes, and jungle, its people and villages, before the big reveal of Pagan Min.

Our caravan is unceremoniously stopped on the way to our Mother’s resting place by the Kyrat Royal Army, a routine identification stop. Things go sideways with the arrival of Pagan Min via helicopter, and we know suddenly something is not right. Speechless, we get a quick glimpse into King Min’s psychosis as he guns down his own Officers to make an impression, taking a selfie with Ajay.

“I’M VERY PARTICULAR WITH MY WORDS. “STOP.” “SHOOT.” “STOP.” “SHOOT.” DO THOSE WORDS SOUND THE SAME?”

We’re then brusquely escorted off to Pagan’s palace and asked to dine with the Glorious Leader himself. Everything seems to be going smoothly – aside from some questionable torture-screams in the other room – but our host is interrupted and leaves, asking us to sit tight.

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Not wanting the game to end before it’s begun, we obviously don’t tight and instead sneak off to locate the investigation chamber, we find our Caravan Guide being painfully questioned. Enter The Golden Path Fighters stage right, and we’re suddenly whisked away again, this time from the clutches of Pagan Min, to begin our tale – The Piece of Resistance – caught dead in the middle of this Himilayan country’s civil war.

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Far Cry 4 at its foundation is a story of war. Warring factions between North and South Kyrat: the rebellious Golden Path vs. The Kyrat Royal Army under King Pagan Min’s rule. However, it also foretells of the division between the Golden Path group that Ajay has become the symbol of hope for.

The main purpose behind Ajay being in Kyrat is to do right by his Mother, and lay her to rest, but The Golden Path’s rebel movement was established by Ajay’s Father, and he is therefore compelled to set things right in the land.

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As we start the rebellion, eliminating Min’s rule from the South Province, one outpost and communication tower at a time, we start to see the rift between the two Golden Path member develop, as one favours the traditional values and history of Kyrat, while the other argues for progress and modernization. This split path is evident throughout the entire story, as we have to make influential decisions, which will favour one side over the other, ultimately deciding the fate of Pagan Min, and The Golden Path.

At the end of the story, in our final meet-up with Pagan Min, he references the start of our story, and asks why we didn’t just sit tight, await his return. Instead opting to proceed along our murderous path we currently find ourselves on.

“Which Ajay is sitting before me at the table now? Can we have a do over? Dine with me and let us return your Mother’s ashes like you originally intended.”

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Far Cry The Fourth plays exactly like its predecessor, only with a little more verticality, as it takes place, after all, atop a Himilayan mountainous region. To help with this we’re equipped with a wing suit and grappling hook to scale some of the cliff faces.

There’s more wildlife this time around with eagles, rhinos, and even ride-able elephants. The wildlife is also just as aggressive as ever.

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Returned are the outposts needing capturing, and the communication towers needing climbing. New this time around are the retaliation parties that will be sent to a newly acquired outpost, if it’s still within a danger region. These parties are not a force to be taken idly, and can be quite aggressive in their response. It is however, an optional task, as I did not lose any outposts to the enemy when opting  to not defend, but instead driving away in search of loftier objectives.

“YOU HAVE THE BROAD SHOULDERS AND BICEPS TO FIGHT EVIL”

New and similar side-quests have bolstered the country’s activity list, as different types of races are available, as well as hunting missions, hostage rescue missions, bomb defusing, and supply runs litter the map. Collectibles have returned as well.

New navigational options have been added as well, with new vehicle types, previously mentioned wing suit and para-glider, Elephants and a nifty gyro copter. Shooting while driving is also now an option, and with that, auto-pilot. Motion-sickness medication not included.

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Far Cry 4 succeeds on many points, but stumbles and inevitably falls over many others.

Its research and dedication to the Himilayan lands and culture are incredible, and because of this, the game is gorgeous, and beautifully realized. It also did better by the antagonist, Pagan Min and his 3 Lieutenants. Pagan Min is unfortunately kept at a distance throughout the majority of the game, relegated to informative and sarcastic radio messages, but we do kill his double at one point. The main world is a blast to explore, as well as the separated snowy mountain location and Durgesh Prison.

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Besides all its positive, the game is a retread of Far Cry 3 in a lot of ways. Its reliance on an eccentric, violent villain feels similar to 3’s Vaz. And the game’s heavy dependence on the drug-like hypnotic missions become a chore. It seems that the favourited Far Cry 3 marijuana farm mission was taken and spread far too thin to pad the game’s length by adding unnecessary characters and map out the chemical factory and Shangri-La missions, colourful as they may be.

“CANDLES ARE NOW ILLEGAL!”

The game also, somehow, feels less immersive, and the story less fun. Aside from the patrolling wildlife, the landscape doesn’t feel as alive as 3 did, with its stormy jungle rainfalls. And Ajay Ghale is a pawn in this civil war, and not the tragic hero that Jason Brody was.

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All said, the game is still very good, good-looking, and worth playing if you liked Far Cry 3. The achievements are standard story key-mission completion, collectibles, liberating outposts and unique murdering methods involving vehicular manslaughter and Elephant jousting.

The added co-op element is a fun addition, but note that the co-op’ee will not unlock anything in their own campaign.

Notable Achievements:
Tusker (Kill 30 enemies with an Elephant) – 10G
The Sky is Falling (Perform a takedown from a Buzzer) – 15G

-iRogan

WHAT i’M PLAYING / iREVIEW – Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag – The Problem Is Not The Problem

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Not sure if the end of the world was a lie, or if Desmond Miles saved us?

Title: Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Platform: Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, PC, Wii U
Publisher: Ubisoft
Reviewed on: Xbox One

The Assassin’s Creed stories, like those in most open world games, can be hard to follow sometimes. The worlds are so open, with an impossible list of activities to do, it’s hard to just focus on the story campaign alone. One would start to feel guilty about passing over all the side activities calling out for attention.

Over this past weekend I played Assassin’s Creed IV: Blag Flag through to its story conclusion. This was a game that I started back in February on the Xbox One and have been plugging away at for a few days here and there, but never really making much progress.

I had managed a mediocre 10 – 15 or so hours in February and March, but then let it start to gather dust. But it remained there, in my library, proudly sitting at the beginning of the alphabetical list; constantly hollering.

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Full disclosure: I have a short attention span when it comes to open world games of the Ubisoft ilk. The opening quarter of the game plays like a tutorial mission, introducing us to the many different mechanics newly introduced. The player is only granted his ship – the ability to venture out on your own, to fly the coop – a couple hours in.

“OUT OF RUM. WHY? WHY ARE WE OUT OF RUM?”

Saturday and Sunday, I resigned myself to completing the main portion of the game and completing most of the achievable achievements. Those I could see myself completing in the 2 sittings. I unknowingly, but not surprisingly played 12 hours a day for the two full days to wrap it up. The only true evidence of this is when Sunday evening rolled around, reminding me I had to work the next morning. I did complete the story however, some of the attainable achievements, and conquered the forts.

And in just over 35 hours, which, in a game such as this, is really no time at all, and I’m aware of this. The game informs me I’m only 52% done. But no, GAME, I’m 100% done. I’m moving on. I have other Ubisoft games to tackle. Other Assassin’s Creed games even.

I didn’t beat the game because I wanted to. I beat it because it had taken up far too much valuable real estate on my harddrive, and I’d grown exhausted of its mocking glare over the past 6 months.

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag features our new hero in the game world: Edward Kenway – a privateer turned pirate turned Assassin. In the real world we play an unnamed engineer, working for Abstergo Entertainment. After the death of Desmond Miles in Assassins Creed III, we have found that Abstergo is still able to explore his genetic memories from samples of his body, and seeking profit, Abstergo has started turning these memories into simulated reality adventures for the general public’s consumption.

Back to Kenway, we get to sail the wide open seas in the Carribean, and take part in land-based adventures in Cuba and Jamaica, and the Caribbean islands. We visit many familiar locales – popularized by pirate movies and TV shows – like Nassau, Kingston and Tortuga. And we get introduced to familiar characters such as Edward “Blackbeard” Thatch, and Charles Vane.

assassinscreed42The game takes the mobility of Assassin’s Creed III and makes it smoother and quicker, and in taking the tacked on ship battles, graciously makes this the primary focus, upsetting no one. Ever.

The commandeering of the Jackdaw is the best part of the game. Ship to ship battles are simultaneously frantic and glorious, and when a ship is defeated, you can pull alongside, and board it. In defeating all the remaining enemies, the player can choose to add the ship to your fleet for the trading mini game, or scuttle it. The trading mini game adds to your bank account for ship and character upgrades. This was introduced in III, and is easily overlooked, but it’s a thing.

“BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES, WEIGH ANCHOR! WE SAIL . . . WITH THE TIDE”

As the story progresses, and as our own ship gets upgraded, the battles become larger and increasingly difficult as we start to war against larger ships in increasing numbers. These battles can, at times, require full attention and strategy.

The open world takes place in both the seas and towns, and everything is seamless, without loading. At any time, within range of a small island, we can anchor the Jackdaw and dive our Assassin overboard, to swim ashore and search for treasure. It is that fluid, and a lot of fun. The game also has a full day and night system and full, fully realized weather systems. Windy channels and huge storms can come rolling along with the occasional rogue wave or water tornado. Both of these scary happenstance events are to be wary of.

The game features quite a few large cities, Kingston and Nassau, and Havana, and plenty of smaller towns. As well as full jungle islands. The game brings back hunting of animals, and includes the much criticized whale hunting.

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The fortress battles are the best showcase of the game’s ship to shore fighting mechanics. The strongholds act of the synchronization points for the world map, like towers in Far Cry 3 and 4; once completed they reveal the map, side quests and collectibles in that quadrant.

We storm the garrison from the sea, taking down its defenses with our ship’s many guns. Once thoroughly defeated, we land the ship, attacking on foot, needing to track down and kill the commander of the fort, completing the attack.

“STOP BLOWING HOLES IN MY SHIP!”

Kenway’s arsenal is as burgeoning as ever. Dual wielding swords, dual knives, smoke bombs, sleep darts, rope darts, and 4 pistols for multi-shooting. We are the true bringer of death. At times, when surrounded by 8 or so enemies, and utilized everything on our utility belt, we’d be an even match for The Dark Knight.

As I said at the top, the story can sometimes get muddled as we partake in side assassination missions, or naval battles, distracting by fragment collecting or searching for buried treasure . . . so it can be hard to keep track of what is happening in Kenway’s campaign. It’s really the only downside to open world games such as these, and the story suffers from lack of continuity.

In the finale, in typical fashion, the game wraps up all the events and it plays very linear. Cut scene to cut scene, assignation then another cut scene. The last 3 chapters remove the open world aspect from the game, forcing the player to wrap up their experience. But after all said and done, the open seas are ours again, as well as the Abstergo development floor, for those who cared.

Assassin’s Creed IV brings all the very best of its predecessors together and melds them with an altogether new tale, while continuing along the same story thread that the past 5 games have written. Released in 2013 as the console next-gen bridge, it is the best Assassin’s Creed game to date. Now it is time for me to move onto last year’s Unity and this year’s Syndicate, and BEYOND.

“For those who like: sailing the open seas, playing the pirate, bar fights and killing people with your awesome.”

Achievements mainly reside in the story chapters and unfortunately some in multiplayer. The rest are mainly collectibles: complete the forts, complete the hidden shipwrecks, full upgrade everything – lame.

Notable Achievements:
Wild West Indies (kill 4 enemies in a row using multi-pistols) – 20G
Hungover (wake up in a haystack) – 10G

-iRogan

IDL FEATURE – Day 6: Dead Space

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For this category I had the hardest choices and sacrifices to make, but I chose: Spec Ops: The Line, Dead Space, and Gears of War.

Honourable Mention: Mass Effect 2 (An RPG, I know, but I don’t really like RPGs. And the only reason I played this trilogy was because it was a shooter, so deal with it.)

Day 6 – Dead Space

Developer: Visceral Games
Publisher: Electronic Arts

Dead Space was a real breath of fresh air (HAH. Get it? Cuz we’re in space?) out of a company that, for years, had been regarded as a soulless machine, pumping out only annual titles, not taking any risks. The company I’m referring to is Electronic Arts: king of the sports titles.

Dead Space was a risk, but it was a step in the right direction for EA. For a notable period of time EA was only pumping out Need for Speed titles, The Sims, and annual sports titles, or buying up other studios, and shutting them down and NOT gambling on any new IPs. Year after year they were winning the distinguished “Worst Video Game Company”. Not something to be proud of. But EA claimed that they heard our pleas, and in return, in 2008, published Dead Space, from Visceral Games – originally EA Redwood Studios.

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Dead Space is a science fiction survival horror game. We play as Isaac Clark, an engineer, and while responding to a distress call, land on a  mining ship looking for our girlfriend, and end up finding only necromorphs – or reanimated human corpses.

The game is slowly paced, with creepy dark corridors, heavy breathing, screeching music, and plenty of jump scares. The two notable parts of the game is its unique HUD design, and tactical shooting mechanic.

HUD first: The game has no HUD. We see Isaac from a 3rd person perspective, and can be either angled over the left or right shoulder. The weapons have their own ammunition read out, and the “HUD” is made up on a projected holographic display. This is broadcasted in front of the player’s suit upon command, and this is how we view the map, inventory, and any video messages.

Second is the shooting mechanic. The game, as mentioned, is slow placed. We’re wearing a heavy mining suit on a space ship with artificial gravity, so it makes sense. But the shooting mechanic is tactical in nature. The game calls it “Strategic Dismemberment”. Body shots, or head shots will not stop an enemy. The goal is to focus on the limbs. The plasma cutter is the primary weapon, and is used to slice off the legs and arms of the approaching enemies to stop them, and then you can stomp them to death when you’re done. The game showcases many enemy types, and many weapon types, inventory management, suit upgrades and crafting.

The game’s last notable mention is the Zero Gravity zones, where we get to float around a large environment, while being propelled around with our space boots. Sometimes even in space! SPAAACE!

Dead Space was a slow, creepy horror game that spawned two sequels. That said, the sequels sadly drifted away from the original creepy horror mechanics that made the game awesome. The third one did offer co-op though, which was an acceptable inclusion.

<– Last Week – Spec Ops: The Line
Tomorrow – Gears of War –>

-iRogan