Author - Judgeman

Dungeons and Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara Review (Xbox 360)

2013/06/18

News, Reviews, Xbox 360 News, Xbox 360 Review

Capcom has been digging in their vault of past titles, looking for games to be remade and re-released onto the Xbox LIVE Arcade. This week, Capcom released two of my favorite arcade beat-em-ups of all time in one absolutely near-perfect package with Chronicles of Mystara. Chronicles of Mystara is made up of Capcom’s 1993 release of Tower of Doom and 1996’s release Shadow Over Mystara. These games were released near the time that TSR was revamping the basic rules for their original Dungeons and Dragon’s game with their 1991 version of the “Rules Cyclopedia”. However, while trying to cash in on the surge of renewed interest in Dungeons and Dragons, these games were overshadowed in the arcade by other games from the same genre, such as Final Fight, The Simpsons Arcade Game, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Story

Both games in the Chronicles of Mystara are set in the lands of Mystara, from the basic version of Dungeons and Dragons. The first game, Tower of Doom, has the party setting forth to rid the land of the archlich Deimos, who sits atop his tower and orders his minions to invade the nearby villages. The second game, Shadows Over Mystara has our party traveling to Glantri, when it is discovered that Deimos was only part of the grand scheme and that the true evil lies with Synn, a great magic-user bent on conquering both Glantri and the Republic of Darokin.

Capcom does a very good job of setting up a game that truly feels like it could be a Dungeons and Dragons adventure. The plot is uncovered as the party goes from level to level and is told through the use of non player characters requesting the party’s aid. The party even has choices throughout both games, as to what path they would rather take, leading them to face different threats and monsters. This helps change up the game and allows multiple play-throughs without facing the same monsters or seeing the same environments.

The only negative that I have with the story itself is that it gives the characters no chance for any type of development, nor does the game even give them any type of background. You are just classified as the person you choose; whether it be the dwarf, thief, or cleric. This was done mostly due to the limited processing power back in the 1990s, but unlike The Simpsons Arcade Game or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, these games did not have well known characters for the players to understand and enjoy. With Dungeons and Dragons being such a character-driven world where the players love to create well-rounded individuals, these characters feel just flat in terms of story.

Game Play

The game play changes slightly over the two games in Chronicles of Mystara, but the core mechanics remain the same. The overall game play falls into the category of the side-scrolling beat ’em up game for up to four players, like Final Fight (ed. note: I’m Haggar!!!). You choose a character, four in Tower of Doom and six in Shadows Over Mystara, and set off to rid the world of every creature you run across. You have your main weapon, which is determined by your class, and secondary weapons that you can find or purchase along the way. Capcom does a great job in implementing some of the core rules from the Dungeons and Dragons table top game into the arcade version, like restricting the cleric to using only blunt edge weapons. These restrictions makes the game feel more like playing the table top game to fans of the role playing game.

Certain characters have access to spells from the beginning, and these are found by bringing up your spell wheels during combat. Items can be found that contains spells in them, and scrolls can be found to teach the casters new spells. It will take a little while to get used to the spell effects and the spell wheel to find the right spell you want to cast, but once mastered the spells will fly naturally. If you don’t want to mess with the spell mechanics of the game, then just pick the dwarf, fighter or thief and stab creatures with sharp objects until your heart is content.

Capcom added in a great way to keep players returning to play Chronicles of Mystara by way of unlocks and “house rules”. As you play the game, you will earn points to open up unlocks, such as art. If you save enough of these points, though, you can start to unlock house rules. These house rules will change the way the game is played, making it a different experience, such as items you find will never break or gaining health with each attack. While it doesn’t change the game dramatically, it does make it interesting for a game night when you have some friends over to play.

Aesthetics

Visually, Capcom added some nice options for Chronicles of Mystara by giving us the choice of keeping the graphics original, sharp or smooth. Other than that choice, the graphics and aesthetics remain the same as it did for these games’ original releases. The aesthetics fits with the time period that these games were released in and for the graphic capabilities for the era. The looks of Chronicles of Mystara is very cartoon like, but with realistic proportions and design. Even though it was designed by Japanese artists, it has a very Western look and feel to the characters.

Sound wise, Chronicles of Mystara feels exactly like the original releases. It has the same type of music that the original release had and the same type of sound effects. Voice acting is very limited, just like the original. What voice acting there is in Chronicles of Mystara works well enough for a nineties brawler.

Final Thoughts

Chronicles of Mystara is a must-buy for anyone who grew up playing these types of games in the arcade. With solid four player co-op game play, forked pathways, spells and item drops, Chronicles of Mystara is arguably one of the deepest types of beat ’em up games that came out in the 1990s. Following the world of the basic version of Dungeons and Dragons closely, Chronicles of Mystara references popular settings such as Glantri and the Republic of Darokin, and limits the classes to the weapons that are usable in the table top game, such as the blunt edge restriction of the cleric class. If you are in the mood for a little four player co-op action with your Dungeons and Dragons buddies, then this is the game to get. Chronicles of Mystara is available now through XBLA.

[easyreview title=”Product Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4″ ]
[button target=”_blank” style=”” class=”btn_blue” link=”http://gamingshogun.com/gamingshogun-rating-system/”]Learn About Our Rating System[/button]

The Night of the Rabbit – A Review (PC)

2013/06/15

Judgeman

News, Reviews, Windows PC News, Windows PC Review

Last year, I had the pleasure of playing some of Daedalic Entertainment’s point and click adventures like A New Beginning and Harvey’s New Eyes. This year, Daedalic Entertainment has released a point and click adventure game that puts the other two to shame, with The Night of the Rabbit. Set in a whimsical world, The Night of the Rabbit is classic point and click game play with a fantastic and wondrous world to play in. While some of the puzzles will cause your blood pressure to rise, The Night of the Rabbit will give any fan of point and click adventure games hours of great story and interesting characters.

Story

In The Night of the Rabbit, you play as young Jeremiah Hazelnut, whose sole dream is to become a great magician one day. Jeremiah is spending his last days of summer vacation, trying to scrounge up an adventure before he has to go back to school. His adventure truly begins when a large rabbit named Marquis de Hotto appears before Jeremiah and offers to make the young boy his apprentice.

As Jeremiah’s adventure begins in earnest, he discovers the world that he lives in is slowly coming under the control of another magician, The Great Zaroff. Marquis de Hotto and Jeremiah begin to fight back and try to stop The Great Zaroff and his evil schemes.

The story for Night of the Rabbit is imaginative, whimsical, and works so well with the hand drawn aesthetic. I fell in love with the characters almost immediately, and was drawn into the story by the amazing dialogue, that really helps bring the story to life. The story in the beginning feels right out of Wind in the Willows, until the darker undertones start to appear. As Jeremiah progresses through his world, more questions than answers appear. It is rare for the story to match the visual and voice acting aesthetics so well as it does in The Night of the Rabbit.

Gameplay

The Night of the Rabbit is a standard point and click adventure game, with puzzles that range from easily solvable to rage inducing. Daedalic Entertainment has perfected the point and click game play mechanic that Sierra Online made famous all those years ago. Based solely on this mechanic, The Night of the Rabbit is a fantastic game that plays extremely well, but the game doesn’t stop there.

Daedalic Entertainment added a few other gameplay elements to the traditional point and click, such as spells, collectibles, a day/night cycle, and even a card game. These additions to the gameplay help make The Night of the Rabbit a much deeper game in terms of mechanics then past point and click games. The day/night cycle is particularly interesting, since certain people will only be in place during certain points of the day. This can cause some of the puzzle answers to be frustrating to solve, if you happen to be in the right place at the wrong time of day.

All of these mechanics feels right and fits within the story telling aesthetic for the game. The Night of the Rabbit had to have a spell casting mechanic, since Jeremiah is a budding apprentice, and this one feels right. The downfall that prevents this game from being absolutely perfect is some of the maddening puzzles that can be found in The Night of the Rabbit. The game refuses to hold your hand , unlike other point and click adventure games. While there is a hint system, it can be more frustrating than enlightening, depending on your ability to solve puzzles. Other than that small gripe, the gameplay for The Night of the Rabbit is almost perfect.

Aesthetics

This is where The Night of the Rabbit really wraps itself around my heart. The visuals are hand drawn and are reminiscent of classic Winnie the Pooh or any of the other classic children’s books that I have read over the years. Working hand in hand with the story, the visuals draws the player deeper and deeper into this whimsical world of talking rabbits and magic. This game is the type of game that helped shape how I see videogames in terms of graphics and visual presentation. The graphics themselves are simple in terms of technology and in no way look realistic. However, I loved the look of this game far more than I did for technological powerhouses like Crysis 3.

The sound for The Night of the Rabbit works its magic also. While the music does a decent job, it is neither terrible nor memorable, the voice acting is absolutely perfect. The actors add just the right amount of emotion and inflection without going overboard or being dead. For me, the British accent adds more to the feel of the game, and makes it feel much more like Alice in Wonderland. The aesthetics really makes this game a special one, and one that I had no problems spending hours playing.

Final Thoughts

The Night of the Rabbit by Daedalic Entertainment is a stunning point and click adventure game that really is one of the best games I have played in that genre. While the puzzles can be extremely challenging, the aesthetics of the visuals and sound, coupled with the great story and well delivered dialogue, makes this game a must play for anyone that is a fan of point and click adventure games. It seems that I have been playing quite a few of Daedalic Entertainment’s games within the last year, and I can easily say that The Night of the Rabbit is a solid contender to the point and click crown that is currently worn by Sam and Max. The Night of the Rabbit is currently available on Steam.

[easyreview title=”The Night of the Rabbit Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4″ ]

[button target=”_blank” style=”” class=”btn_blue” link=”http://gamingshogun.com/gamingshogun-rating-system/”]Learn About Our Rating System[/button]

Thunder Wolves – A Review (PC)

2013/05/29

Judgeman

News, Reviews, Windows PC News, Windows PC Review

Not all video games have to be sweeping epics or contain controversy to be a fun to play. Sometimes, people just want to turn their minds off and blow stuff up. Well, Thunder Wolves from Most Wanted Entertainment is the answer to that desire. Playing like a helicopter air combat game from the 80’s, Thunder Wolves is all about loud, heavy metal music, paper thin characters, and explosions – lots of explosions. With a short, three hour single player campaign, Thunder Wolves doesn’t have time to waste in setting up a plot or giving the players a twist in story telling, because that would get in the way of the massive amounts of destruction you need to be committing.

Story:

The story for Thunder Wolves is as straight forward as you can get. You play as “Blister”, a new helicopter ace that has just joined the mercenary group “Thunder Wolves” for cash and glory. You will be sent through thirteen missions with various objectives and goals, since that is what you have been paid to do. The other characters that round out your mercenary group include a grizzled, foul mouthed veteran and a bossy, stern mission specialist. The characters are all one dimensional and serve a singular purpose for the story, which is to give you something else to listen to instead of the constant explosions and death screams of your enemy.

Thunder Wolves story line serves one purpose and one purpose only: To give the player some sort of frame work for all of the madness that is on-screen. The plot, writing, and voice acting are all over the top and exaggerated, which fits the style of the game perfectly. Like story lines for most fighting games, the story is just “there” and does nothing to either take away or add to the enjoyment of the game.

Game Play:

The game play for Thunder Wolves is the meat and potatoes of the game, and is really well done overall. The helicopters are outfitted with a chain gun that has unlimited ammo and won’t overheat, regenerating rockets that come in three flavors, flares to help you avoid incoming missiles, and regenerating health. This is all there to help you deal with the onslaught of chaos that is on the screen for almost the entire three hour campaign. Enemies will be plentiful during each mission, and will fire a barrage of guided missiles at your helicopter, so using every tool in your arsenal is an absolute necessity to survive to see your objective finished.

There are thirteen missions, each mission has a main objective for you to accomplish. Secondary objectives will pop up as the missions proceed, to give you something else to do then just blow up the entire map. Each map also has a hidden collectible that players can search for in the form of a man named… “Pedro”. There are skins and different helicopters to unlock by playing through the missions, but these feel mostly like cosmetic changes instead of giving you any type of performance boost.

The controls are very forgiving, which is perfect for this type of arcade style game. When it comes to arcade flight games like this, I wish I had a control pad and not just a keyboard and mouse to play the game. If you only do have the keyboard and mouse, then you will be happy to know that the controls still work very well. The controls are what allow you to put your brain on auto pilot and enjoy the senseless destruction you are about to unleash, since you do not have to stress over how to fly the helicopter.

Aesthetics:

Visually, Thunder Wolves is lackluster at best. The graphics do the job that they need to do, but do it without beauty or creativity. For this type of game, it would have been fun to see the aesthetics more over the top to match the game play and audio. The developers went with Heavy Metal for the soundtrack in Thunder Wolves, which really is a perfect fit. The loud, guitar riffs and pounding drums actually fits quite well and accentuate the game play. It isn’t something I would want a copy of for my digital collection, but does the job while you are blowing stuff up.

The voice acting and dialogue are just as over the top as the game play is. The developers and actors did a great job in channeling their inner Duke Nukem by making the dialogue just outrageous enough to be fun, without going over the line into the realm of being offensive. The actors were definitely into giving their characters some life and personality.

Final Thoughts:

Thunder Wolves is a fun, mindless helicopter combat game that reminds me of the good old days of video gaming. Days before every game had to be a serious, gritty, and thought provoking experience. That isn’t to say Thunder Wolves does not need strategy to complete its missions, you do need to actively avoid incoming enemies and complete your objectives. However, it can all be done with your brain shut off and your finger on the trigger. The over the top voice acting and loud Heavy Metal music helps extend the experience of Thunder Wolves, I just wish the developers went with a visual aesthetic style to match. The game play is very forgiving, but the campaign will only run you about three hours to complete, with some more time to explore the whole map or hunt down every achievement in the game. Overall, Thunder Wolves is a solid and fun arcade style shooter that will allow your brain to take a break from today’s more serious video games. Thunder Wolves allows you to sit down, have some laughs, and destroy everything you see on the screen.

[easyreview title=”Thunder Wolves Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”3″ ]

Blade Symphony Preview (PC)

2013/05/20

Judgeman

News, Previews, Windows PC News, Windows PC Preview

One of my newest addictions has been Kickstarter. I love seeing great ideas being pitched and developed by way of crowd funding. The feeling that I get when I pitch in on a great idea, see it being developed, then finally receive the final product when it is ready – amazing. Within the last year, I have backed projects such as Kingdom Death, Hexx, and Zombicide. One such project was Blade Symphony, created and developed by Puny Human and funded through Kickstarter. Funding was successful for Blade Symphony back in August of 2011, and we have finally gotten our hands on a early copy of Blade Symphony to let you know how development is going.

Our Preview:

Blade Symphony is a sword dueling game, where individuals face off against each other and duel using various tactics and blades. You have the option to select one of three fighters: Judgement, Phalanx, or Ryoku. Each fighter has their own techniques, strengths and weaknesses. You further customize your character by selecting one of the many different types of swords available; such as katana, foil, jian, or practice swords to name a few. Each sword has their own move sets, strengths, and weaknesses. This gives the player the ability to customize his or her own character to their own personal play style.

During combat, each fighter also can change between three different stances: Fast, balanced, and heavy. Each stance has a set of combos that are dependent on the weapon of choice you are using. By holding down the mouse buttons, you will be able to trigger a defensive move, such as a parry or block, or a focused attack, which increased the strength of the current move. Combos can be completed using button and keystroke moves, and can be completed through different stances by scrolling the mouse wheel. This gives combat in Blade Symphony a very fluid feel, much like actual sword duels.

Game modes are currently set for Free For All on the servers. Blade Symphony currently only has an online mode, with training disabled in its current build. So, after creating a character and choosing a sword, I entered the fray. Blade Symphony allows players to duel one another, through the challenge action. If you want to challenge a player to single combat, simply target the player and press the appropriate key. The other players will become nearly invisible, with only you and your opponent being solid enough to hit. The duels are best out of three and are to the death. Once you die, you re-spawn and simply need to follow the arrow to find your opponent again. Current maps range from small and interesting to large and bland. The office building was one of the largest maps I played on, but was very stark and uninteresting to look at, while I absolutely loved the aesthetics of The Courtyard. The game is still under development, so what we played here was a beta build, that could continue to change in both looks and game play.

First Impressions:

Blade Symphony was helped along with over $19,000 Dollars through Kickstarter, and is currently available through Steam for $14.99 while the game goes through development. While the game has an unfinished feel to it, with many features still under development, you can see a quality game that will offer a lot of depth once it is complete. The fights are fluid and differ constantly, allowing players to choose the weapon and fighter that fits their style of play and makes each duel different from the last. For those of you that like one on one fighting games, Blade Symphony will be one to keep an eye on.

Mars: War Logs Review (PC)

2013/05/11

Judgeman

News, Reviews, Windows PC News, Windows PC Review

Mars: War Logs aims for the stars with high ambitions, but ends up just missing its target. A budget title from Focus Home Interactive and Spiders, Mars: War Logs is an effort to give you a AAA experience in the same vein as Mass Effect or The Witcher 2 but the end result is a game that is hard to take seriously. There are plenty of redeeming qualities to Mars: War Logs that makes the game well worth its twenty dollar price tag, but with big issues in the story telling and voice acting, Mars: War Logs doesn’t quite deliver the quality experience that makes a great game.

Story:

Mars: War Logs, not so surprisingly, begins its story on the planet Mars during a war. Subtlety, you will find, is not one of Mars: War Logs strong suits. The story, in the beginning, follows a young soldier by the name of Innocence, and he is the only character in this entire game that lives up to his name. Moments after Innocence is delivered to a POW camp, he is welcomed by fellow members of his own army as they attempt to rape him in the sand showers. Innocence’s, umm, “innocence” is saved by another prisoner, who stares down the would-be rapist and takes Innocence under his protection. This savior is named Roy, and he is the character that you end up playing for the ten hour or so journey through Mars: War Logs.

The “Logs” suggested in the game’s title, comes from Innocence as the narrator, telling of his time in the POW camp with Roy and their attempts at escape. The story for Mars: War Logs is the weakest part of the entire game. It never feels polished enough or interesting enough to take it to the next level. Fortunately, there are some shining moments during the game’s story that allows you to see Spiders true potential and just how great this game could have been. Ultimately, the story just doesn’t take you where you hope it would go.

Character personalities are tied to closely to their names, either characters are the complete opposite of their namesake or, like Innocence, are exactly as their names would indicate. That is, until you are introduced to the villain of Mars: War Logs: A technomancer that goes by the name of Sean. That’s right, Sean. The developers went through all of this trouble creating meaningful names for half of the cast, then we get the major villain, a guy who shoots lighting out of his hands, named Sean.

Game Play:

Mars: War Logs does deliver on a nice, tight system of game play that can be challenging during combat situations. Combat is done in real time, in a similar fashion to combat in Mass Effect. Controls are solid, even with the mouse and keyboard, and they have to be. The enemies you will face in Mars: War Logs are out to eat your face, and Roy is not Marcus Fenix in terms of toughness. Combat requires hit and run tactics to survive, and that is completed by using the roll button, a lot. Rolling out of the way of an enemy’s attack, then hitting them with your weapon is a vital tactic that you have to learn right away in order to survive.

The rest of the game systems for Mars: War Logs do a good job in what they are supposed to do. There is a character screen, complete with a skill wheel, ability tree, and inventory. The skill wheel is very similar to other role playing games on the market, with three trees to choose from and each skill can be taken multiple times. Mars: War Logs also adds a separate ability system that you can buy into using points gained from leveling up, these help your character to better fit your play style. Inventory is very basic, you have armor and weapons that you can equip. You can also pick up materials as you play through the game. These materials are used to upgrade your items in the inventory screen. It is nice not having to head back to a work table to do this, and each upgrade will give you bonuses to certain stats. Upgrades are not permanent, as long as you have the materials, you can change the item. This helps when you are entering a fight that requires a bonus to a certain stat, but don’t want to permanently get rid of the upgrade you currently have. Just change the item for that fight, then change it back as long as you have the materials to do so.

Spiders does a good job in delivering solid game play for Mars: War Logs. While it does nothing to bring any innovation to the experience of playing a Western RPG, it does what it needs to do. It’s unfortunate that the story doesn’t live up to the game play to at least make the experience of Mars: War Logs something more than just “okay”.

Aesthetics:

The visual aesthetics of Mars: War Logs are just like the game play: Solid without being exceptional. The world looks just like you would expect it to; red, dirty, lots of makeshift materials, and desolate. It has a very lived-in feel, so the player will get the feel that these colonies have been here for a very long time. If I have one gripe about the visual aesthetics of Mars: War Logs is that it is a little bit too generic. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does make Mars: War Logs blend in more with the crowd.

Mars: War Logs audio does help the game stand out more than its competitors, but in a much more negative light. The voice acting is bad… Real bad. It is bad to the point of distraction and it definitely takes away from the game experience. Voice acting, when done right, makes players care more about the characters in the story and gives players a reason to care for what happens to them. Mars: War Logs already has a weak story line that players won’t care about, so having bad voice acting just makes that issue much more glaring.

Final Thoughts:

Mars: War Logs is a game that could have been very good, even great, with the right budget. Spiders and Focus Home Interactive tried to give you an experience that can be compared to Mass Effect but with a price tag of twenty dollars. Now, a higher budget does not necessarily mean that a game will be better. I have played plenty of low budget games that are much better then the higher budget, AAA titles. But, in the case of Mars: War Logs, I think a larger budget would have allowed the developers more resources to get a better writer and better voice actors. With these types of games, if the player isn’t invested in the characters or story, then the overall game experience will fall flat. The reason players had such a big issue with the Mass Effect 3’s ending is because it didn’t feel right with the natural progression of the characters story lines. Ultimately, Mars: War Logs is a “okay” game for its price point that could have been much greater if I actually cared about the characters or what happens to them during the game’s storyline.

[easyreview title=”Mars: War Logs Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”3″ ] Our Rating Scores Explained

Poker Night 2 Review

2013/05/02

Judgeman

News, Reviews, Windows PC News, Windows PC Review

Telltale Games has released their sequel to last year’s poker simulator with Poker Night at the Inventory 2, or just Poker Night 2 as I will be referring to it in this review. Last year’s version had decent game play, great voice acting and fantastic unlocks to get me to buy in for the $5.00 price tag, but after the unlocks were gone I soon found that the repeated jokes, lack of multi-player, and the absences of other game modes would keep me away from the game. With Poker Night 2, Telltale Games brings us another set of four competitors to try to take our buy in, with new unlocks and even a new game mode, but is it enough to keep Poker 2 on our hard drive after all the bounties have been collected?

Story:

The story line for Poker Night 2 is extremely straight forward. You play as the fifth player being recruited for a poker game at the Inventory with four characters from around the world of media. With your $20,000 buy in, the game begins until only one person is left standing with the cash. Since the story is very light, I will focus this section more on the characters of the game and how they interact via dialogue. Poker Night 2 has a few well known characters from the movie, video game, and television worlds. The four other players are Brock Sampson from The Venture Brothers, Sam from Sam and Max, Ash Williams from The Evil Dead movie trilogy, and Claptrap from the Borderlands video games. Poker Night 2 also has a new dealer for this tournament, GLaDOS from Portal brings her lovely wit, charm, and the occasional threat to the game. Other characters such as Capt. Reginald van Winslow, Doug from The Walking Dead, and from Borderlands both Moxxi and Steve make appearances during game play.

What sets Poker Night 2 above your common poker video game, in terms of story, is the dialogue that occurs between the players and other characters involved. With the addition of GLaDOS, we have five active characters this time instead of four from the last game. The dialogue is very well written, for the first couple of times you hear it. After that, like anything else you hear over and over, it will start to get older and older until you just don’t want to hear it anymore. Poker Night at the Inventory knew this would occur, so we had the option of limited dialogue. However, for Poker Night 2, that option no longer exists so you will just have to learn to cope with it. The jokes are really well written and are actually funny, along with the set conversations that the characters have with each other. Even with my extensive play through since the game was released, I am still running into new dialogue every once in a while, but it is hard to have to listen to the same joke over and over again the more I play.

Poker Night 2’s backgrounds and interactions will also change depending on what set of chips, cards, and poker table you are using. These background changes will also change how the characters leave the table after they have lost all their money. For instance, using all of the Borderlands unlocks, the Inventory gets dressed up like Moxxi’s bar, and Steve helps our players leave the table in some of the funniest moments of the game. I really feel that this game did a great job in setting up an atmosphere that is a blast to play in, with some great writing for our players. The only negative I have is how much gets repeated the more you play, but that is hardly surprising considering the type of game Poker Night 2 is.

Game Play:

Poker Night 2 this year offers two game play modes, Texas Hold ‘Em and Omaha Hold ‘Em. Both of these modes are no limit, so bet whatever you feel like. For those of you that don’t know, the difference between the two modes is the amount of hole cards you have in your hand. In Texas Hold ‘Em you get two cards while in Omaha Hold ‘Em, you get four, but only get to choose two of them to make your hand. Both of these modes are presented well and play even better, but then again it is poker so it isn’t that hard to get right.

During game play, the player has a chance to buy the other characters drinks using tokens that you win in-game. These drinks will eventually get the characters to reveal their tells, making it easier for the player to catch a character in a bluff. I didn’t use this system as often as I probably should have, since the same tokens you use to buy these drinks are the ones you use to unlock new decks, tables and chips. I also didn’t see to much of a increase in my winning probability using the drink system, but it was fun to make Moxxi actually do something, instead of just hanging out in the background behind the bar.

Now, let’s get to the other major reason why many of you are eyeing this game, the unlocks. Like Poker Night at the Inventory, Poker Night 2 has a series of unlocks that you can win when you win the bounty items from each character. These items vary from character to character, from Ash’s Necronomicon to Claptrap’s Spike VG award. In order to get the character to place the bounty on the table, you must first satisfy three random requirements, such as “win a showdown” or “go all in against two other players and win”. This time, you will receive an unlock for two games, Team Fortress 2 and Borderlands 2. These items are all cosmetic changes to your characters for each game, such as the “Necronomicrown” for the Pyro in Team Fortress 2 or the “Man with a Gun” head for the Commando in Borderlands 2. These items help extend the game play of Poker Night 2 and makes the repeatable dialogue that much more tolerable. However, once you have played the game for hours on end and have unlocked everything there is to offer, Poker Night 2 will no longer have any appeal.

This appeal could have lasted much longer if there was online, or even local, multi-player. But there isn’t, this game can only be played solo. I understand why the developers don’t want to have the players play online with the characters, that would create way to large of a table and take to long to play, but why the developers still haven’t added in an online mode where players can just play poker with each other is beyond me. This would help Poker 2 keep it’s freshness long after the last unlock has been dealt with.

Aesthetics:

Voice acting is fantastic for this game, mostly because Telltale Games went out and grabbed the original voice talent for most of the characters. Sam, Brock Sampson, GLaDOS, and Claptrap are all voiced by their original actors from the original sources. David Nowlin, Patrick Warburton, David Eddings and Ellen McLain all lend their talents to the game in roles that they are very familiar with. Max and Ash Williams are not voiced by their original actors, which was disappointing for Ash. Truthfully, I could not tell that Max was being voiced by a new actor, which is a great thing for this game. Not having Bruce Campbell available to voice Ash Williams was disappointing to me, but not a deal breaker. Danny Weber does a good job in trying his best to sound like Bruce Campbell, but fans of the Evil Dead series will hear the difference, and that is enough to take you out of the experience if you are a huge Evil Dead fan.

The visual aesthetics of Poker Night 2 are also fantastic for the most part. The backgrounds change depending on what unlocks you are using, and the interactions the characters have with these backgrounds are great additions to the game. The game does suffer from some graphical hitches here and there, like missing animations and random freezes. I thought maybe it was just my PC having some issues with the game, but these same problems showed up on my Xbox 360 version as well. It’s a shame that this occurs, but it is a $5 game, so how loud am I going to complain.

Final Thoughts:

Poker Night 2 is a great game, it really is. I enjoyed the character interactions more this time around it seems, and I really enjoyed the changing of the visuals using the unlock system. The game plays better then it did in the first version, simply by adding one more choice in game modes with Omaha Hold ‘Em, but still not having any type of multi-player modes severely limits the amount that you will play this game. The unlocks are a great incentive to keep returning to Poker Night 2, but once they are all gone, this game has nothing more to offer it’s players. Even with that, I still recommend this game to anyone that enjoys a good poker game with great writing. Poker Night at the Inventory 2 is available now through Steam for $5.

[easyreview title=”Product Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4″ ] Our Rating Scores Explained

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge Review (Xbox 360)

2013/04/24

Judgeman

News, Reviews, Xbox 360 News, Xbox 360 Review

Team Ninja has done it again by releasing an updated port of a previously released game in the Ninja Gaiden series. Ninja Gaiden 3 was originally released in March of 2012, so it only took Team Ninja eight months to realize their mistakes and release Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge for the Wii U as a launch title. With an additional wait of five months, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 owners can now get their hands on Razor’s Edge, but is it worth it?

Story:

The story for Razor’s Edge has not changed since the release of Ninja Gaiden 3. You play as Ryu Hyabusa, the protagonist of the Ninja Gaiden franchise, as he is summoned by the Japanese Defense Force to help out with a terrorist attack in the heart of London. The terrorists, a sect called the “Lords of Alchemy”, are specifically calling out for Ryu to make an appearance and save the British Prime Minister and his family. With the aid of Mizuki McLoud, Ryu sets off for London to discover what connection the Lords of Alchemy has with himself. Ryu faces the leader of the Lords of Alchemy in the Prime Minister’s mansion, and is subsequently defeated and cursed with the “Grip of Murder”. The curse caused the Dragon Sword to become fused within Ryu’s right arm, and compels Ryu to murder others or he will die. Barely escaping London with his life, Ryu learns that the Lords of Alchemy threaten the entire world with destruction unless each nation gives in to their demands.

Razor’s Edge also has a separate set of missions for Ayane to play through, that involves the return of the Black Spider Clan. Ayane has a completely different set of moves for her missions, which adds much more replayabiltiy to the game. Razor’s Edge also allows players to play as Kasumi and Momiji, which can be played in any part of the game.

If you played the original Ninja Gaiden 3, then there really isn’t anything new here story wise. The story is fairly typical of Team Ninja, which means it does the job well without really becoming too memorable. Team Ninja games have always had a particular feel to them for me. The writing and story progression is very much their style for Razor’s Edge, which has never really made me feel like it was done superbly, but never left me with a bad taste in my mouth either. If you are looking for something new story wise with Razor’s Edge, you will be disappointed.

Game play:

Since Razor’s Edge did nothing to update the story line for Ninja Gaiden 3, then it had to update the original’s game play. Razor’s Edge brings in all of the downloadable content that was available for the original release of Ninja Gaiden, including all of the new weapons, challenges and costumes that could have been purchased. This is a nice inclusion since the price for Razor’s Edge is already discounted from the original by twenty dollars. You get a lot of content for less money, and that is always a good deal. That is, if you don’t own Ninja Gaiden 3 already. Well, what about those of you that did buy Ninja Gaiden 3 and all of the content for the game? What has changed for you? Not a whole lot from what I can tell.

Ninja Gaiden 3 was criticized for cutting down on the gore level, which made it feel less like a Ninja Gaiden game for many people. Razor’s Edge brings the gore back, by the bucket load. You are able to severe limbs off of the enemy soldiers, then continue to chop them into itty bitty pieces of flesh as the blood just splatters over everything in the vicinity. Razor’s Edge also adds more weapons, skills, and abilities to the characters that you choose to play as. This gives you much more ways to dismember your enemies and send them to their ancestors.

Razor’s Edge also is said to add improvements to the overall game play of Ninja Gaiden 3 by increasing the difficulty of the artificial intelligence of the enemies and by adding a new difficulty level to the challenges. Coming from a person that has beaten the original Ninja Gaiden game for the NES, I found this game to be hard. Really hard. The developers know this too, or they wouldn’t give you the option to turn down the difficulty after you have died a number of times, which I, sadly, took that option just to beat the Regent of Masks in the Prime Minister’s home.

Razor’s Edge shines in the game play department. The game plays extremely tight and has the right improvements and balances once you have set the game to the level you are capable of playing. One major critique that I have with Razor’s Edge is the camera during the fights. A lot of the fights can get hectic in Razor’s Edge, and the camera has a nasty habit of being sucked into it’s own body if you get into the wrong place of the map. Many times during the game, the camera would rotate on me, and I would get lost for a second, loosing precious moments as the enemies would begin hacking me to bits. With a game that is already as hard as Razor’s Edge is, this just made the game much more frustrating for me. It isn’t a deal breaker here, but it was a sore spot for me during this review.

Aesthetics:

Razor’s Edge has not been improved graphically over it’s predecessor. It looks just as good as Ninja Gaiden 3 did on the Xbox 360. The added gore factor for Razor’s Edge means that everything on your screen will eventually be coated in a nice layer of crimson, but other then that you get the same visual quality that the original had. This goes the same for the music and voice acting also. Nothing has been changed in regards to sound between releases, except for the obvious adding voice overs for the new characters. I consider the voice acting the same as I do about Team Ninja’s story writing, it does the job without being either bad nor good. Team Ninja games have a particular feel for me, and Razor’s Edge feels exactly the same in regards to aesthetics that the rest of Team Ninja’s releases have.

Final Thoughts:

Razor’s Edge brings much more Team Ninja madness to Ninja Gaiden 3, and for less cash. For $39.99, you receive the original release, all of the past downloadable content, three additional characters, more gore, and improved a.i. and game play. If you did not get the original Ninja Gaiden 3 last year, Razor’s Edge is the copy that you need for that game. Ninja Gaiden game releases are beginning to feel like a Peter Jackson Tolkien blu ray release, I know if I wait about six months after the release of the original game, I will be able to purchase the ultimate edition with all the added improvements and scenes that didn’t go into the first release. Your purchase of Razor’s Edge will completely be decided on whether or not you own Ninja Gaiden 3. I would recommend picking up this version over the original, as it has everything you could possibly want all in one package.

[easyreview title=”Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4″ ] Our Rating Scores Explained

Evoland Review (PC)

2013/04/22

Judgeman

News, Reviews, Windows PC News, Windows PC Review

The role playing game has had a long and storied history in the world of video games. Games like Ultima, Hydlide, and Final Fantasy has paved the way for today’s games, such as Mass Effect and Skyrim. The role playing game has gone through a massive evolution from the earlier days, in both game play and in technical aspects, such as graphics and sound. With Evoland, Shiro Games hopes to bring this evolution of the rpg to life with their own story. The concept of Evoland is very simple, you set out to save the world while finding upgrades to the game itself. As you play Evoland, you will find items such as 3D backgrounds, or random encounters, or even sound that will evolve your experience with the game. Evoland parodies many of the classic rpgs, such as the aforementioned Final Fantasy and the Legend of Zelda, but struggles to find an identity all it’s own.

Story:

You begin the game playing as Clink, a young boy who sets out into the world in search of adventure. As you progress through the beginning of the game, you will eventually run into a young girl named Kaeris, who is setting out to find the two halves of an amulet that she needs to save her town from destruction. Joining forces with Kaeris, you hunt down the two halves of the amulet in order to gain entrance into the Black Citadel to face the ultimate evil that threatens to destroy the world. Evoland is fairly short, clocking in at around three hours of gameplay, but that is plenty of time to tell this generic story.

From the beginning, Evoland sets out to parody the great games of old, even by mimicking the names of Link and Aeris from Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy VII respectively. Even the story is a generic retread of many of the old rp games from yesteryear, without really having a soul of it’s own. This isn’t a huge negative for me, because I feel for this game it actually worked to serve its purpose, but it does so without being stellar or memorable. In fact, what the story of Evoland really does is remind me of the better games that Evoland parodies from my youth.

Gameplay:

Evoland’s gameplay is what saves the overall experience. You begin your adventure in a soundless, colorless, 2D world where you can only go right. Going right leads you to a chest, in which you find the left button. Finding this button then opens up more of the game play by allowing you now to go left to collect another upgrade, which opens up the rest of the world. As you play through Evoland, the game play will evolve, hence the name. You will encounter upgrades such as color, 16-bit graphics, sound, random encounters, and changes to your heads up display. I found this gameplay mechanic to be very entertaining and it is the main draw to Evoland.

Evoland will but a ton of random fights in your way, just like the older versions of Final Fantasy. Sometimes, it will feel like you can’t go three feet without having to battle a random creature and you move through the overland map. At first, I was enjoying this feature because of how much it reminded me of the older rpgs I played, but soon grew to hate it and realized why developers moved away from this game play mechanic. Not everything that occurred in old, classic role playing games where fantastic nor do they hold up well to today’s standards. Fights are extremely straightforward in most combat situations. When you are fighting in the overland, the combat system becomes turn-based, a la Final Fantasy, with almost no challenge whatsoever You just select attack until all your enemies are dead, while you have Aeris, I mean Kaeris, just spam heals without fear of running out of mana.

When Clink enters into a dungeon, the game play changes yet again to a more The Legend of Zelda style, with one exception which mimics the Diablo series of combat. Puzzles in these dungeons are simple to solve, requiring very little thought. Combat takes a much more action rpg style, where you must swing your sword to defeat enemies and pick up gold and health along the way. Death is a little more certain in these dungeons, but mostly due to instant death traps, like falling into lava pits. The boss fights in these dungeons, again, adds a little more depth and challenge, but once you discover the pattern to the boss the fight is over.

Leveling up will only increase one of your stats per level in Evoland, and you do not have a choice in which one is picked. Equipment is forced upon you, and you have a very rudimentary inventory screen. During the Diablo dungeon, you do pick up much more equipment and a more robust inventory screen, but this is used only to give you the feeling of playing a Diablo game, and not to actually give you any type of bonuses. The items are predetermined and do not give you the bonuses they say they do. While reading the item descriptions will give you a good chuckle, it doesn’t really add anything to the game play of Evoland, except to remind you how awesome a game Diablo really was.

Aesthetics:

The sole purpose of the aesthetics of Evoland is to remind you of games gone by. The game is modeled after the graphics and looks of such games like the Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy VII, that you will feel like you are playing those games, almost. There is always something just a little off about Evoland, like looking into a parallel universe where you recognize many things but they just aren’t as good as you remember. The graphics of Evoland starts off as a copy of the 8-bit generation and will continue to evolve through the game until you reach high definition textures with ambient lighting. Even at it’s most evolved, Evoland won’t win any awards for looking pretty, but the graphics here are designed to fit the overall idea of Evoland, and works quite well.

The sound works in exactly the same way as the graphics. You begin the game with, literally, no sound at all. Then as you move through the game, you will discover sound and music that will evolve in quality, but never any voice acting. So I guess evolution does have a limit for the developers over at Shiro Games.

Final Thoughts:

When I read back through this review, I realize that it sounds much harsher than I think I intended it to be. Evoland is a parody of older, better games but it is enjoyable for what it does give us – the evolution of RPG gaming from beginning to end. Throughout the game, I was reminded of the “good old days” of playing the The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy VII and the first Diablo games, and this made Evoland’s faults stand out that much more. Parody is a tough gig – you have to make the connections to the story you are parodying while maintaining your own soul and identity. That is why Mel Brooks’ old movies are the best example of the concept. Brooks was the master of making these connections but also in creating his own original ideas and jokes to make his movies into classics. Evoland is a good attempt, but ultimately ends up being mediocre because of the lack of its own soul that Shiro Games just could not pull off through their parodying the greats of the RPG genre. Still, for $9.99 on Steam, it is a good look for anyone that is fond of the old days of gaming.

[easyreview title=”Evoland Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”3″ ] Our Rating Scores Explained

Another World 20th Anniversary Edition – A Review (PC)

2013/04/14

Judgeman

News, Reviews, seal of excellence, Windows PC News, Windows PC Review

Originally released in 1991 for the Amiga and the Atari ST, Another World (or Out of This World as it was known here in North America) was a brilliant platform game designed by French game designer Eric Chahi. Ported over to various other consoles a year later, such as the SNES and Sega Genesis, Another World was one of the top reviewed and loved games of 1992, both for its game play and its amazing world that the story takes place in. Having played the Sega Genesis version over twenty years ago, I can personally attest to how well received this game was and just how well it played. 20 years later, and I am honored to be able to bring you a review for the 20th Anniversary Edition for Another World.

Story:

Another World focuses around a young physicist named Lester Knight Chaykin, who has arrived at his laboratory to work on his experiment using a particle accelerator. During this experiment, a lightning bolt strikes the lab, causing massive interference with Chaykin’s experiment, and causing Chaykin to be teleported to a barren, alien world.

After fending off the hostile life forms on the alien planet, Chaykin is then captured by the large alien humanoids and taken to a prison. Chaykin is placed in a cage with one of the planet’s inhabitants, and manages to escape and arm himself. The rest of the game centers on Chaykin and Buddy’s (Chaykin’s new alien friend) escape attempt from the pursuing alien prison guards.

The story for Another World is told without voice overs and with a minimal of text. In fact, the only text that the player receives is in the prologue before Chaykin arrives at his lab, setting up the story. Chahi is absolutely brilliant in his use of storytelling devices for Another World. The player is well aware of what is going on solely based on visual clues and events that are used to move the story forward. Not giving the aliens a voice that is understandable, nor having any type of text that explains what is going on once you have landed on the alien world, really helps put the player into Chaykin’s position of confusion and ignorance. 20 years have not aged this story at all, it is as engaging as it was when I first played it on the Sega Genesis.

Gameplay:

Another World is a platform science fiction game that plays extremely well, regardless of what type of peripheral you use. I believe that using a game pad to play the game is the absolute best way to get the best controls, but playing Another World on the keyboard still worked well due to the tight controls. You begin the game completely unarmed, only able to kick or run from the threats that the alien world brings to you. Once you escape your prison cage, you acquire a laser pistol, which not only shoots aliens but also generates a force field to protect you from incoming shots.

In Another World, there isn’t any type of health meter. Chaykin cannot take more than one hit from any type of hazard, be it alien laser shot or a flooding tunnel. You will die, a lot, and in many different ways. The one flaw that I have always felt that Another World had was it’s trial and error gameplay. You have no idea what is in the next room, until you enter it and get brutally killed immediately. You then get to restart from the checkpoint, and try the room again, just to die horribly in the next room. Another World can be ridiculously short, only measuring twenty five minutes on a perfect speed run, however, the length of the game comes from the massive amounts you will die before figuring out the best way through the game.

There is no HUD, no text, and no clues as to where you need to go next. Another World offers many different ways to get through the game, with forks that can lead to a different challenge or event. You can finish the game following one path, then take a different fork in the next game to see new rooms. This helps increase the replay value of Another World, seeing what was just beyond the staircase that you decided not to take.

Aesthetics:

As mentioned before, there are no voice overs in Another World. The closest thing to any type of voice work you received is the aliens’ guttural language sounds. What you do get, is some of the best music in video game history. The sound and the music have both been digitally remastered for the 20th Anniversary release. Jean-Francois Freitas understands how to create a mood by using music which, in this case, became incredibly important since Another World has no dialogue to help create mood or tone. The music is suitably haunted when the game requires it to be, and much more violent and energetic in other scenes. For me, the game is even more powerful without the dialogue, like the historic issue #21 of GI Joe named “Silent Interlude”, and entire comic book without one word. The story must be able to be told in a more creative way when you are not using dialogue.

The visuals for Another World are cleaned up significantly and brought into the high definition age. The art style is just as it was twenty years ago, which may look dated today in comparison to modern games, but still looks fantastic. The color palette is very indicative of the era that the game was designed, and has been recognized as art by being one of the first fourteen games inducted into the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Final Thoughts:

Another World is a timeless game that really should be played by everyone. Like classic movies such as Casablanca or Citizen Kane, Another World’s legacy and influence can still be felt in video games that are developed today. The 20th Anniversary release of Another World has been remastered digitally and brought into the high definition age for this edition, but the original graphics and storytelling have been kept classic. Like watching Citizen Kane on Blu-ray, updating Another World enough to today’s standards without compromising the original art and sound can be difficult, but the 20th Anniversary edition of Another World does just that. Do yourself a favor, and pick this game up from Steam for $9.99, it is worth every cent.

[easyreview title=”Another World 20th Anniversary Edition Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”5″ ]

Bluetune-Solo Bluetooth Speaker Review

2013/04/02

Judgeman

News, Reviews, Tech News, Tech Review

For whatever reason, the universe hates me when it comes to portable speakers for my bluetooth and music devices. Over the years, I have tried a number of products that just never seemed to give me the quality of sound that I was looking for. This explains why my heart sank a few levels when I heard my next review would be the Bluetune-Solo bluetooth speaker from Divoom. Preparing myself for another disappointing product that didn’t deliver on what was promised, I awaited my package to arrive.

Packaging and Contents:

The Bluetune-Solo came packaged quite nicely, displaying the speaker prominently at the top of a rectangular, clear box. In the bottom half of the package, came the needed cord and manual to get you going. The cord for the Bluetune-Solo is a USB connector that is used to charge your speaker, but it also comes equipped with an optional 3.5 mm jack to plug into other devices that cannot be connect via the bluetooth feature. My particular speaker came in the matte orange color, which I really liked. The Bluetune-Solo speaker also comes in matte red, blue, white, and slate. For this review, I focused on using the Bluetune – Solo speaker with two of my devices, my iPod Nano via the 3.5 mm jack, and my Samsung Galaxy SIII via the bluetooth connectivity.

Specifications and Features:

Before we get into how the Bluetune-Solo speaker fared over my week of testing, let me give you the official specifications and features for the speaker.

Specifications:

Output Power:	4 Watts
Total Peak Power:	6Watts at <10% THD
Driver Size:	50mm micro speaker, 4Ohm
Signal-to-noise:	80dB
Frequency response:	60Hz-20 kHz
Charging Voltage:	USB or AC/DC adaptor 5V
Bluetooth compliant:	V2.1 +EDR
Bluetooth profile support:	A2DP Stereo
Dimensions:	60R x 73H(mm)

Features:

* Wireless play from up to 10 meters away
* Built-in microphone for hands-free calls
* Extra bass in a small package
* 8-hour rechargeable battery
* Daisy-chain capability

Performance:

I first plugged the Bluetune-Solo speaker into my nano, because that is what I really wanted this type of speaker for. Instead of hooking up my headphones to my Nano whenever I worked around the house or on the computer, I plugged in the Bluetune-Solo speaker and turned up the volume. I was really impressed with the quality of sound that came from such a small speaker, and was equally impressed by the power and level of volume that I got from it as well. The depth of sound that I received from the Bluetune-Solo speaker was impressive to me, especially in genres with a heavier bass sound since that is when the X -Bass function would really shine. The Bluetune-Solo speaker worked so well during my testing, that even my wife who never takes an interest in these items tried to steal it from me to take to her work. I only received the one speaker to test, but I can imagine how the Bluetune – Solo speaker would sound if you daisy chained about five of them together for music while at home.

I also used the Bluetune-Solo speaker with my Samsung Galaxy SIII, both for music and for hands free calls. I have always hated in-ear bluetooth headsets for driving, they always seems to end up hurting while in my ear and never feeling comfortable. I used the Bluetune-Solo speaker for all my calls while I was in the car, and it worked fantastic. By attaching it to my dash using a little velcro, I was able to just click on the button to receive all my calls and never had an issue with hearing or being heard through the speaker. I also connected my phone during the music playtest with my Nano, and could make and receive calls even with the music playing through the speaker. The music volume would lower while the call volume stayed at the appropriate level. I never once discovered any issues with hearing or being heard throughout my testing.

Final Thoughts:

The Bluetune-Solo by Divoom has proven me wrong about the capabilities of these types of speakers. Both my music and my calls came through loud and clear over the speaker, and I was quite please at how portable this speaker truly is since it only stands about 2.75 inches tall. The Bluetune – Solo speaker really outperformed my expectations, which admittedly were rather low to begin with. However, this is not to say that I didn’t put the Bluetune – Solo to the test, and it passed every use I could think of for it, from using it in my house during a cleaning session, to using it at my desk in a loud classroom. If you are in the market for a bluetooth speaker that can also double as a speaker for your 3.5 mm devices, then I would highly recommend checking out the Bluetune-Solo speaker by Divoom. this speaker really impressed me with its performance. The Bluetune-Solo speaker is priced at $49.99 and is currently available.

[easyreview title=”Bluetune-Solo Bluetooth Speaker Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”5″ ]