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Day 1 – A Diary Divided: The Division

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What follows is a chronological order of events that take place in a series, written by an Agent within The Division who shall remain anonymous. He shares his nickname at the end of each entry, so that his friends and family will recognize, that they may keep up to date with his journey. The entries are date stamped the day they are received, which may not reflect the day they were written, as some entries may cover multiple days. They are posted as they come in, unaltered.

03-21-2016

 

 DAY1

So I’ve survived day 1. I got the call that I had been dreading and now I’m here, for lack of a better word: alone. The message was received on my watch at oh-nine-hundred yesterday, March 19th, and I went straight to my local base to get on the next transport. I was expecting the message, but didn’t think it would come this soon, and with so little warning. Luckily I don’t have any pets, or a girlfriend or fiance at home. I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to my friends or Mom though. So, uh, goodbye everyone. I hope to see you again, or hear from you when this is all over. Mom, I love you and miss you, and I’m OK. I guess I should get that out of the way right away. I’m OK.

A little back story – I’m a Division Agent. Surprise! Right? Who would have guessed? One of many agents actually. We were enlisted, and trained in basic combat, and survival techniques. Nothing fancy. We know how to shoot, track, and survive. And basic comm skills. It’s not our day job, but something that we get some compensation on the side for, to keep up emergency supplies and rations, and so they can keep tabs on us. We’re a sleeper emergency response unit basically, to be called upon when shit gets real, when the government needs to regain control of its people. In the event of a disaster or something. We report to the Strategic Homeland Division and assist the JTL, or Joint Task Force to help restore some order to the city.

What I don’t need to tell you is that disaster has struck, in the form of a smallpox pandemic. Someone called it the “Dollar Flu” and the name has stuck. Its central to New York right now, and the city has been quarantined. With me inside. There aren’t many people left here either. Anyone left here standing is immune and the rest are, well, diseased. The disease transferred by touch through money, physical money. And in a heavily populated area like New York, money changes hands constantly. That’s why it spread so fast.

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I got one of the locals to snap a picture of me standing underneath a “No Standing Anytime” sign. The sign could be referring to me, or The X-Men. I didn’t ask for clarification.

They have the base of operations set up James A. Farley Post Office, and that was my first stop today. Met with the commanding officers and was given my gear, guns, some food while I’m mobile and my Comm pack. Met a few of the other Agents, but the expectations of us are to go somewhat alone, so that we’re more spread out across the city, and not clumped together. As a result of the Dollar Flu, and the city being quarantined, there is some pretty heavy looting and destruction of the city by the survivors. Basically thugs. The cockroaches are the ones to survive right? Our primary objective as an Agent is to clean up the city while the cause of the pandemic is determined, and a cure is created. As we are ground zero, we also have to follow the commands of the higher-ups, in case we’re give a mission.

Looting and destruction isn’t the worst of it. People have been taken hostage, people are fighting over whole streets, and claiming it as their own, like a gang mentality. No city services are running, so there’s fires everywhere. I’m surprised the power is even still running. There doesn’t really seem to be a lot of news leaving the area either. At the head base while I was waiting for my turn to be called for gear, I was watching the TV of the outside connection they had setup, and the news was talking about the virus and the quarantine, and that’s it. I’m guessing they don’t want people to know how bad it actually is, how bad the looting has gotten, or how high the death toll has risen. The JTL has no way of removing the dead bodies, and no real means of cleaning up the city. I’m not sure if they’re keeping them for testing, but there’s a lot of covered bodies around. I heard they have a huge incinerator near the construction site of the train tunnels.

I’m not allowed to talk to media or share anything. I have a little wireless chromebook that I keep with me, which is how I’m writing to you, but there’s no network or internet connections throughout the entire Downtown Manhattan. Only the Base has the hard-line connection and Satellite. Luckily the base is located in a Post Office though, and post offices deal in mail. I have a friend who works in Comms, and he has access to the Network and Comms to Brooklyn. I’ve given him the info to my work’s FTP. I work for a local free newspaper. They’ll get it, and hopefully post it somewhere. The plan is to drop off a USB drive with the entry into a secure mailbox, he uploads it, and puts the drive back. I have to check in at the HQ every morning and evening anyways for the daily rations, so this setup should work. Unless the Base gets attacked, or either of us get found ot, or I die. But lets not get ahead of ourselves.

I’m sharing this because I feel people need to know, and so my family knows I’m OK. This city is contaminated. We wear masks so that we don’t breath anything in. The streets are littered with abandoned cars. Its a mess. I’m staying in an apartment building a couple blocks away from the post office. Keeps me close,  but not too close. I also take a different route home everyday, just in case. The condo is nothing special – its already been looted and no one else was staying here. I sleep on the floor and don’t touch any of the furnishings without gloves, and it has power and heat most importantly, since its still late winter here. Hasn’t quite warmed up yet outside. It has running water too, which I’ll boil so I can bathe.

So that’s that. I made it through day one. It’s dark outside and I’m exhausted. They told me today was basically for orientation and to get situated, since I was one of the last transports in, but tomorrow … tomorrow is when the real deal begins. Oh-six-hundred – be ready. And I intend to be. Hopefully this message makes it out. It’ll be at least 12 hours old by the time anyone reads it I suspect. Hopefully another one will follow.

-iRogan
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iReview – VALIANT HEARTS: THE GREAT WAR – Hand Drawn War

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War makes men mad.

Valiant Hearts: The Great War

Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Montpellier
Platform: Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, Ps3, PC, iOS, Android
Reviewed On: Xbox One

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I don’t know a lot about World War I other than it might be the focus of EA’s next Battlefield game. I do know that it hasn’t been the focal setting of many games, whereas World War II has been heavily played out. The developers at Ubisoft Montpellier strove to change this fact – those behind Rayman Legends and Child of Light – and have brought us an artistic title that takes place in 1914 as Germany declares War on Russia.

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Valiant Hearts is a game about War, but not a War game. The story follows the path of four characters: the Frenchman Emile, his German son-in-law Karl, American soldier Freddie, and a Belgian nurse named Anna. The main focus of the story is Karl, as he is deported from France, separated from his wife Marie and child, and then drafted into the German army. Marie’s father, and Karl’s father-in-law Emile is drafted into the French army. What follows is a tale of Karl and Emile fighting the war on opposing sides, crossing paths occasionally, and trying to survive. Freddie, an American soldier who volunteered to join the French army fights alongside Emile, and they all cross paths with Anna, a Belgian student / battlefield nurse, and Walt, a Doberman Pinscher dog, throughout the tale.

The game is broken up into 4 different parts, and each part consisting of 6-7 chapters, each following the path of the different characters interwoven through the different stages of the war. The tale concludes in 1917.

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VALIANT HEARTS IS A GAME ABOUT WAR
BUT NOT A WAR GAME

Valiant Hearts is a 2D animated puzzle based game. Before progressing through each chapter, the character we’re playing needs to complete certain objectives. These puzzles generally involve obtaining certain items needed for that situation and delivered to the correct people or used to open a new stage. There is little to no dialogue in the game, and the NPCs in the game will just display a picture of the object or action required. In the wartime segments of the game, the player has to survive gunfire segments from enemy soldiers or planes, bombing runs, and stealth levels where the player has to avoid the patrols of enemy soldiers, by hiding in shadowed areas.

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Some of these segments are really when done, for example when running through the fields at night during a bombing run, to avoid enemy signs, you need to run when the sky is dark. When the bombs hit, they will light up the stage, so you need to make sure you’re hidden.

There is no gunplay during the game, but there are times the player needs to use a melee attack to knock out an unsuspecting guard. The player will need to punch through debris that may be blocking the path or throw dynamite to clear areas or throw an object to break a window. Each character that we play also has different traits. Emile has a shovel, and can dig through soft dirt to avoid gunfire or planted explosives, Freddie carries shears to cut through barb-wire barricades, and Anna is able to treat injuries, which is done through quick-time events.

CARTOONY, BUT NOT-FOR-KIDS CARTOONY

Another example is a stage where we’re stuck inside a house that has been the focus of a chemical attack. We’re wearing a gas mask, but inside, all that’s visible is the green smog. We need to find windows and smash them to help vent the gas so that we can see then next area.

The dog, Walt, is also utilized throughout the campaign. He can be commanded to fetch objects or activate switches. The enemy soldiers ignore him, so he’s utilized to grab items behind enemy lines.

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The art is all hand drawn and animated and cartoony, but not-for-kids cartoony, and it’s evident that Ubisoft has put a lot of love into the art and design of this game, and invested time to tell a tale about survival, sacrifice, and friendship. The game is inspired by real letters written during the events of World War 1 and throughout the game the player unlocks facts about the history of the War, and collectibles with their own unique history.

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The campaign is a fairly lengthy affair, for a game of its type, and it does play a bit slow. Some of the wartime segments are completed through trial and error, but the puzzles are fairly straight forward. The game even has a hint system in place if you get stuck at a certain segment for too long. As well, the narration between chapters can be a bit dry, but that comes with telling a sombre tale of War.

Perfect for those that like illustrated games, World War narratives, or playing fetch with the dog.

 

On the achievement front, the game is very generous. There are some story related ones that can’t be missed, and some for collectibles. The others are for completing a segment perfectly or going beyond the call of duty, and these are almost too generous, considering the difficulty of the game. The issue is the XBOX One’s default 1000G per game regardless of their triple A or indie status. Some of these achievement are miss-able, and you’ll need to restart that chapter.

Notable Achievements
Brothers’ Keeper (Save your entire platoon during the battle of Somme) – 70G
King of the Hill 145 (Shoot the German flag with the cannon at Vimy’s Ridge) – 55G

-iRogan

 

 

iReview: MIDDLE-EARTH: SHADOW OF MORDOR – Like Assassin’s Creed But Different

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This would be the definition of a late review, but that’s only because I review ‘em as I play ‘em.

Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Developer: Monolith Productions
Platform: Xbox One, PS4, PC
Reviewed On: Xbox One

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When you first start playing Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and takeoff traversing the world, climbing up towers or cliff faces, you might consider you’re actually playing an Assassin’s Creed title. Or when you discover an enemy group and initiate the gruesome dance of death, you might even think you’re playing a medieval Batman title, by Rocksteady. But you’re actually not, however alike they may look or feel.

Monolith Productions has taken these two great franchises, and lifted the foundation mechanics from both, and used them as the two pillars for their game: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. It’s a good thing too, because when you strip those away, what’s left is a dull revenge story.

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Shadow of Mordor takes place between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. We play Tallion, who is a ranger that dies at the outset of the story. A great start for any game. Tallion watches as his whole family gets murdered by the Black Hand of Sauron. We are then introduced to Celebrimbor, an Elf Lord who also died by the hands of Sauron, only he was cursed to remain undead. Celebrimbor’s spirit merges with Tallion’s body allowing him to remain alive but dead or dead but alive? Together they try to avenge the death of their loved ones.

What follows is a fairly lengthy campaign that see’s Tallion meet and help other locals and leaders fight the ever-increasing shadow of the Dark Lord, and his army of Orcs. Some small bands are just trying to save their captured friends and family, some bigger missions involve infiltrating Orc strongholds and eliminating key enemies.

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It’s obvious that a lot of research into the world of Middle Earth was done, as the two maps are very believable. The character designs from Tallion to the humans, the Elf Lords, and Orcs are all fully realized, are unique, and fit right in. The garrisons and strong holds, enemy camps, and even the wild animals and goblins all play a part. There are a couple key enemy camps throughout the two large maps, that are usually commanded by a Warchief, and then there are the smaller camps run by Orc Captains. Littered around the world are small bands of orcs who are controlling the human slaves. These three tiers of enemies can make stealth a little bit tricky if it’s a mission requirement, but otherwise, they don’t really care too much about your presence if you’re just running through the area. They feign interest for a bit, and chase you, but give up quite quickly.

Traversal of the world comes very naturally to Tallion, as he is a Ranger after all. He can run and vault over obstructions in his path fairly smoothly, and has the ability to climb sheer walls and cliff sides. He can also jump off any height without injury. His abilities don’t have the same fluidity of an Assassin’s Creed title, but the world is not nearly as detailed.

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Equipped with a sword, a dagger and a bow, and a weird ghost who embodies him, Tallion is quite adept in the art of killing Orcs. With the swordplay, attack and deflect is a lot like a Batman title, press attack in the direction of an enemy, and press block, when they start to attack you, and then watch Tallion flow seamlessly through each action. Again, not nearly as complex or smooth as the perfected Batman titles but it’s sufficient. The attacks and execution kills are brutal, with lots of blood and gore, and limbs flying. With the bow, you can slow down time and shoot “light” arrows or do a short transport to the enemy in your sight. These abilities is what Calebrimbor bring to the table when he inherited your body. You can also brainwash Orcs you have caught and hold hostage, taking over their weak mind, and having them fight for you.

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The fights can get quite hairy quite quick when you’re infiltrating a stronghold, and the enemy has raised the alarm. You will become very quickly surrounded, and the Spear or Archer Orcs will not hesitate to attack you from a distance when you’re trying your best to keep your head attached among the melee sort. It will get intense quick, and you’ll likely die quite often.

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Dying in Shadow of Mordor can be frustrating, but you don’t really lose much ground, aside from the current mission you were on, if you were in one. Otherwise, you just respawn at the nearest Tower and resume your attack. This is where the Nemesis system comes into play, and it is the best feature of the game. The enemy AI will remember if they’ve killed you.

Coming across an enemy who has ended your turn will call you out, and some may taunt you, saying they’ve killed you once, another time shouldn’t be too hard. Some might be more fearful of you since you’ve returned. Each Captain or Warchief will get a little focused introduction with their name when they hit the battlefield near you, and the Nemesis system makes these encounter memorable. Even dying multiple times to the same Orc will raise them in rank in the Orc Rule. They’ll start as a Low Captain and slowly progress towards Elite ranks and then Warchief.

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The Nemesis system also allows you to get more information about each Captain and Warchief – their fears and strengths.

When you brand a Captain, you can start internal wars by calling out other Captains and helping them win their way to the top and challenge a Warchief. This system works really well during a difficult mission, as you can call on your followers in the heat of a battle to help your side.

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Throughout, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is a solid game. It looks good on the Xbox One, and plays smooth. The story missions are nothing worth writing about and Tallion as a Ranger is not wholly interesting. The two character’s revenge stories are tied into one, and we learn the story of Celebrimbor as we progress. Some of the side missions tell a little bit more story involving Golum and the One Ring, and a Hunter story arc takes us into caves to fight goblins and cave trolls. But the combat and stealth is satisfying, and having brain-washed orcs fight your battles is a fun spectacle.

Achievements in this game are nice and diverse. There are the collection types, and regular campaign missions achievement, which are commonplace, as well as being rewarded for trying out each gameplay mechanic. The interesting ones are where they take the Nemesis system into account, and the interesting ways you can use your branded Orcs to fight your war.

For those who like Middle Earth, Assassin’s Creed, or thought it would be cool to play as a Ranger, like Aragorn, descendant of Isildur and rightful heir to the thrones of Arnor and Gondor, but figured a no name dead guy would suffice.

Notable Achievments

The Spirit of Mordor (Start a Riot by commanding a Warchief to attack another Warchief) – 20G
Stinking Rebels (Brand 5 Bodyguards of a Warchief turning them against him in combat) – 20G

 

 

FUNKO, NEED FOR SPEED, Xbox Update and New Games- IDL NEWS

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Overwatch Funko

Funko’s POP! collection will feature some of Overwatch’s playable characters. Four figures have been announced so far—Tracer, “the time-jumping test pilot;” Reaper, “the mysterious mercenary;” Widowmaker, “the ice-cold assassin;” and Winston, “super-intelligent, genetically enhanced gorilla.” To be released in May.

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I really like the POP! vinyls, and have a growing collection. I prefer the video game ones to the TV show or movies, so these will look nice with my collection. I have all the Assassins, and Borderlands 2’s Claptrap, Moxxi, Jack and Psycho, Bioshock Infinite’s Booker and Elizabeth , and Kratos. I am missing the Evolve and Mass Effect ones :(.

Need For Speed Free Update

EA has confirmed that the next free update for Need For Speed will include drag racing. It will also include some new Hot Rods, a bigger warehouse to store vehicles, and livery editor tool improvements.

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Xbox Update: March

March’s Xbox Update will bring backwards compatible Xbox 360 games to the Xbox One store to be purchased digitally, and Party Chat can now be publicly broadcasted via the Twitch streaming app. The host of the channel can choose who will be heard within the party.

Killer Instinct Season 3

Killer Instinct Season 3 will be launched on march 29th, 2016 on both the Xbox one and PC, and will feature cross-platform play. Season 3 will feature Battletoads’ Rash and the Arbiter from Halo, among others.

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New Releases – March 1-4

Heavyrain


Heavy Rain (PS4)
Heavy rain was a fantastic game for the PS3. A game of story twists and turns as you play from the perspective of 4 characters trying to solve numerous murders. The game has received both a visual and performance upgrade.

16544766Beyond: Two Souls (PS4)
Another game by Quantic Dream, and plays similar to Heavy Rain, both are drama action-adventure games And both have received the performance and visual upgrades and released as a combo package.

Mortal Kombat XL (Xbox One, PS4)50743282
The ultimate Mortal Kombat X experience.The package includes 2 brand new characters in Leatherface and Alien, plus all the playable characters from the original release and Kombat packs. Includes new skins and a new stage.


Gears of War: Ultimate Edition (PC)
PC release of the completely redone Gears of War 1. The Xbox One release came out in August.

Far Cry Primal (PC)
PC release of last weeks Far Cry game, that came out on PS4 and Xbox One.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD (WiiU)
HD remastering of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, originally released on the Wii and Gamecube in 2006.

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Currently plugging away at my review for Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, which is the pure definition of a late review. So that’ll be ready for Thursday fingers crossed.

-iRogan

 

iReview – PNEUMA: BREATH OF LIFE

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Pneuma: Breath of Life

Publisher: Deco Digital and Bevel Studios
Developer: Deco Digital and Bevel Studios
Platform: Xbox One, PS4, PC
Reviewed On: Xbox One

Mind the stairs, and don’t trip over your own feet.

Pnuema started out less a game, and more of a tech demo, even going so far as to show us how to pronounce it’s title name: /’ nju:ma /. The purpose of developing it was to show off the Unreal 4 Engine, and test positional-oriented rendering, developed by a small team of 6 twenty-something year old’s, who worked throughout the day to put it together, and then worked all night at their regular jobs to fund their project. And, thanks to some very clever positional-based puzzles, a well written, witty narrative, brilliantly voiced by our game’s lead, the end product is a very smart, good looking game.

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We start the game in a black void. The narrator of the adventure, our character, becomes self-aware, and begins to wonder where they are. He then utters some famous words, along the lines of “let there be light” and suddenly a door opens up ahead. We take control, and walk forward into a plain white hallway. The voice in our head, upon the realizing he has just created light, and quite possibly the whole world we just stumbled into, obviously thinks he is now a god. This is where the game shines, in its writing. Our god-like narrator begins to list the laws of physics that are keeping him grounded, and while moving around watching the world beautifully build itself around us, begins to realize that he is not in fact moving, but the world is moving around him. And then begins to add colour and warmth to his surroundings.

IT’S PRONOUNCED NJU:MA

At this point, if you decide to walk backwards, you’ll see all the changes become undone, and the world revert back to its pale empty space. This kind of evolution and realization follows us through the whole game, and creates a good sense of progression.

I really liked the voice actor who plays the narrator, his wonder and excitement regarding his new world and his ability to create. Reminds me a lot of Wheatly from Portal 2. His high level thinking and his god-like status slowly begins to wear away though, as we start to come across puzzles. Why would a God like me be forced to do these menial tasks? There are a lot of philosophical questions and points that the narrator raises during the campaign, as he tries to figure out why things are the way they are, what it’s like to be alive in this world, and are we playing the game, or is the game playing us.

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The puzzles start off pretty easy to grasp, and graduate to fairly moderate, none of them too hard to handle, but you may get a bit queasy when the game starts to rotate the game world, leaving you a little turned around.

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“ARE YOU GOING TO OPEN THE DOOR? AT ANY TIME?

The puzzles are position and focused based. There are eye markers placed around each level, and these will control walls or floor tiles, or doors. When looking at the object marker, it may move as you walk closer, or when you walk away – no explanation as to why this is happening. But these are only affected when looking at them. The camera has to see the eye. For example, when looking at a door marker, the doors may only open as you walk away facing them. Do that for a distance until they open fully, turn around so your eye and the eye marker no longer make contact, and then walk backwards through the open door. Afterwards our narrator will chime in, confirming what we did, and coming to the conclusion that what we did was correct. That’s the easy stuff.

The puzzles get a little more difficult as your progress. Standing on certain pedestals in one area, and rotating the camera will rotate the whole room, and leaving you feeling a little woozy. In the next area, tiles on the floor need to be turned on or off by viewing them at one colour and looking away and coming back to change the colour. These puzzles require time and patience, as one slip up with the camera, and you will have to start all over again.

The puzzles in each area follow a similar mechanic, but don’t feel repetitive or tedious. They are short however, and the game as a whole, is not long, only a few hours, without any real reason to play again.

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Pneuma: The Breath of Life is very pretty, brightly coloured, and beautifully textured with smooth marble or bumpy stone, and fill with lush fauna and bright skies. At times, it does feel like a visual tech demo, showing off the capabilities of the Unreal Engine on a console. It’s just a shame that since all of the puzzles are visual and position based, so we spend a lot of time avoiding eye contact with the markers, and instead spend it looking at our feet.

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The achievements are very generous: 8/11 of them are for just completing each chapter totalling 850G, and then the 3 remaining are for extra puzzles, these being easily missed.

For those that liked Portal, The Stanley Parable, or looking at your feet.

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT
There’s a puzzle for you (Complete the Game) – 150G