Author - Ripper71

Mad Max Review (Xbox One)

2015/09/13

Geek News, News, Reviews, Xbox One News, Xbox One Review

The vision dims. All that remains are memories. I remember a time of chaos, ruined dreams, this wasted land. But most of all, I remember the road warrior, the man we called Max. – Opening Narration, The Road Warrior

I’ve been a junkie for the Mad Max franchise since the first film came out, though it was the second one that really sank its rust-covered, blood-stained hooks into me. I managed to pick up an original Australian version of Mad Max on VHS (the American version had dubbed voices) back before eBay which was pretty tricky. I even wore a shirt with the Road Warrior opening narration and Max and Dog printed on it (trivia fact: the dog was really named “Dog” and was adopted by a crew member). In short I have been waiting for Mad Max: Fury Road for a very long time and I have been waiting for a good Mad Max game my whole life.

Description:
Become Mad Max, the lone warrior in a savage post-apocalyptic world where cars are the key to survival. In this action-packed, open world, third person action game, you must fight to stay alive in The Wasteland, using brutal on-ground and vehicular against vicious gangs of bandits. A reluctant hero with an instinct for survival, Max wants nothing more than to leave the madness behind and find solace in the storied “Plains of Silence.” Players are challenged with treacherous missions as they scavenge the dangerous landscape for supplies to build the ultimate combat vehicle.

Hands On The Wheel:
First off let me say this is not the first Mad Max game, one came out on the Nintendo at the height of The Road Warrior’s popularity and it had some similar aspects to this game in the sense you were constantly searching for ammo and gas while fighting on the road and in strongholds. That being said the game was ridiculously hard, crushing many kid’s dreams of being Max and so should be resigned to a footnote save for retrogamers who have a high level for self punishment or a Game Genie (Ed. Note: I loved my Game Genie!).

The only reason I mentioned the above game is that, as a Mad Max fan, I went in a little worried about this game. There were questions on how it tied into the films as none of the films’ stars were contracted to it. Rumor had it that the melee system was boring and you didn’t get the Interceptor! In the Mad Max franchise the black on black Interceptor was basically his co-star. Add to that the fact that the first Mad Max game was a disaster and you have a pretty decent list of worries leading me to hope it at least as good as what I consider to be its spiritual counterpart: id Software’s Rage.

Pretty much all my fears were for nothing as Mad Max is a well put together, solid addition to the canon. From a third-person perspective, you run around doing jobs in the dangerous Wasteland to upgrade Max’s car, gear, and even his spiritual essence. His sidekick, a hunchback named “Chumbucket”, is a master mechanic who believes building better cars is a religious experience and that every car has a soul. His masterpieces are called “Archangels” and his calls Max “The Saint”.

The storyline is pretty straight forward: Max is, as usual, trying to keep to himself when things go awry and he winds up doing good and helping a lot of people. His reactions to old photos of other people’s lives and his interactions with a strange spiritual guide let us in on how Max’s mind is working, maybe even more than he himself knows. The spirit guide also helps Max learn to make water and gas last longer, food be more filling, extra scrap bonuses appearing on occasion and other such survival techniques in the Wasteland.

Scrap. Scrap is the currency of the Wasteland and a constant source of scrounging. You use it to improve your car and gear, add new fighting abilities and improve your strongholds so that they have more abilities to help you when you check into them. Basically, Scrap makes the post-apocalyptic world keep moving in the Wasteland. As such, everybody wants it and it is somewhat scarce and can take a while to get enough of to do the projects you want. People who like to farm things in games will THRIVE in Mad Max while people who hate grinding will grumble and complain. Hopefully, they will still do it because the game is that much fun. There are ways to occasionally get a large jackpot of scrap that might help you fund a couple of the early projects with one find and later in the game they make getting a supply of scrap easier and picking up scrap a breeze but the projects also start requiring a lot more scrap too. It feels worth it though as your vehicle (I love the “Ripper” car, of course) becomes more powerful, your melee does more damage and the NPCs talk about what a legend you are becoming.

This is probably a good point to address one of the contentions of some players: the melee combat system. While your car gets newer and ever-improving gadgets to survive in the Wasteland, when it comes to fighting, it is almost always with your fists. You get a shotgun and after a while a couple of shivs to use in finishing moves but the shotgun is a bit awkward and shells are always limited. This means mostly punching with the X button with occasional parrying, rolling dodges and finishing moves. Mostly you just hit X which a lot of folks felt wasn’t very satisfying. If an enemy comes at you with a weapon you can disarm them and if there is enough of a break in the fight you can pick the weapon up and use if for a couple seconds but they break fast and at the end of a fight if it isn’t broken you can’t take it in the car with you. I found myself several times saying to the television screen “come on, like he can’t toss that club onto the seat next to him!” as he drops the weapon to enter the vehicle. I don’t mind hitting X a lot while fighting, didn’t bother me at all, but not being able to take the weapon along was frustrating and sometimes the fist fights felt a little clumsy. Also you have a sniper gun in the car but you can’t take it out of the car and carry it on foot, to me that just didn’t make sense.

Because quite often the enemy swarms you at strongholds in superior numbers and attack all at once, I found myself getting really creative with my car – more specifically, with the grappling hook. The grappling hook is one of the most fun parts of the game, I purposely have gone out of my way on occasions just to use it. Chumbucket the hunchback mechanic rides in the back of your car and fires the harpoon while you drive so if you see an enemy running at your car you can shoot them with the harpoon, retract it and watch their bodies go sailing through the sky. I got so I would circle a camp or stronghold, tear down gates with the harpoon then just keep circling shooting everyone I can with the harpoon and launching them through the air while I giggle. When the grappling hook gets upgraded it can be used to tear parts off of cars as well so I had a car that is basically a suicide bomb on wheels barreling down on my Ripper, I ripped off the front wheel and watched it slide to a stop in the dirt feet from me. When the driver got out he took the grapple hook ride to Cloud City. So much fun! You get so that you look for anything and everything to hit with that hook. You get some other great weapons but the grappling hook has unlimited use which makes it your best friend in a limited resourced land.

The Wasteland may be short on resources, but it is definitely a beautiful, intricate landscape with actual times of day and dangerous weather patterns. There is a distinct nautical feel to the Wasteland for a storyline reason I’ll let you discover on your own but as a result rusting hulks litter the landscape and look amazing but sunset and eerie by moonlight. Their is so much detail to everything that I found myself taking screenshots on my Xbox One just so I could show people what it looked like when they come to visit. The detail in burning wrecks, maggoty corpses and even just the storms are so beautiful. Even when you are getting battered by debris from a dust storm of struck and set ablaze by a lightning storm it is a sight to see, hopefully from the cover of shelter. Even the different tribes of the Wasteland have different looks and outfits that distinguish themselves and show attention to detail.

The overall look and feel of the game is harder to place but in a good way. This is because it is not directly associated with any one of the franchise’s movies. It seems to take a little from the looks and feel of all the movies especially in the tribes and vehicle designs. A good example would be some cars look slightly altered like the first Mad Max movie, Some are a little more raggedy like The Road Warrior then there are some loaded with spikes like in Fury Road. Max himself starts off looking like the first movie but with unlockable head features he can look like the end of Road Warrior, or even all Raggedy Man like in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. He looks most like Mel Gibson and sounds a bit like him, but just different enough to be his own version.

Last Scraps:
Mad Max is a great game and a terrific addition to the canon. As a true fan I know I will do every mission, find every scrap at a camp and leave the Wasteland as deep into his character as possible. I still have a lot of road ahead but I have a full tank, a full canteen and enough scrap to see another dawn.

[easyreview title=”Mad Max Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”5″ ]

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2015 GameStop Expo and Conference

2015/09/10

Ripper71

Geek News, News, Screenshots / Photos

“It’s like a mini E3!” our photographer said as we entered the GameStop Expo Hall and took in our surroundings. The big boys of Sony, EA, Blizzard and many others had not just made an appearance at the event but had made a proper show of it.

Originally a conference to train GameStop managers, the event had expanded to interacting with the vendors that have products at the shop and demoing games so that the managers could accurately inform the GameStop shoppers as to what the games are like. They also have an onsite shop of older product for the managers to pick up at great discounted prices. A few years ago GameStop decided to open the last day of the event to the public and from there on it was a little known expo that quickly drew a crowd of gamers and geeks in the know.

This year had such great moments as Imperial Stormtroopers playing Star Wars Battlefront, a Rock Band 4 stage complete with surprise star players, and legends of the comic world signing autographs and joyfully talking products. Dean Ambrose walked along chatting with Robert Horry, Ryback proudly showed off his title belt while signing autographs, Anthony Daniels hung out answering questions. The biggest geek moment for us was standing next to Todd McFarlane when Stan Lee came up to his table to chat. Todd tried to look composed but even he had to geek out when Stan Lee stops by to chat.

The deals to be had in the GameStop/ThinkGeek store were amazing, a lot of people left with Batman Arkham Knight Special Editions with the statue for under $20, Gears Of War shirts for $5 and Funko figures for as little as $9.

If you didn’t come with cash in hand there were tons of prizes to be won from numerous booths. a personal favorite being the McFarlane The Walking Dead miniatures and play sets that have me playing “connect the walker body parts” at home.

The only way the Expo could be more fun is if it were open more days to the public or longer hours which after being open for the managers for days before might be a bit much for vendors. I’m already looking forward to next year and hoping it hops to a location I can visit again.

Photographs

Wars and Battles Review (iPad)

2015/08/23

Ripper71

Mobile News, Mobile Review, News, Reviews

It seems somewhat fitting that just after the fifth anniversary of writing my first article for GamingShogun.com, which was about a budget Risk like game on the iOS platform, that I am once again writing about a budget Risk style strategy game for the iPad this time titled Wars And Battles.

Description:
Wars and Battles is a platform of turn-based wargames that simulate historical battles and campaigns over several centuries and continents. Wars and Battles offers you rich and immersive graphics, intuitive yet sophisticated gameplay and hours and hours of game. Integrating the sophistication of traditional wargames into tablets is our commitment to players fond of strategy, history or the military.

By buying the Wars and Battles app you will be able to play the campaign in each of the 4 battles in the package. This represents more than 50 original scenarios, of which there are more than 30 for Normandy 1944 and October War 1973 alone. Advanced scenarios and full battles (including “what-if” scenarios) are available through in-app purchases, so the fun never ends!

The next battles we will release are: Kharkov 1943 and The Korean War 1950-1951.

Features:

Fight, turn-based battles in both 2D and 3D views in impressive visual quality;
Play quick and full battle scenarios;
Play in solo mode or in asynchronous multiplayer mode with any player in the world at any time;
Become a strategist with every turn you take and every scenario you complete. Enjoy a progressive experience by upgrading your rank;
Increase your knowledge of history thanks to extensive historical photos, commentaries and units’ fact sheets;
2 battles available, 2 additional battles to be released.

Game On:
Wars and Battles promises lots of wars and battles to come but starts you off with two side of two different campaigns: Normandy 1944 and October War 1973. At its core, the game is a hexagonal turn-based strategy title with nice visuals. Also, the game can be toggled between 2D or 3D viewpoints. The 2D mode has a classic feel while the 3D one has some animations. There are turn limits and each limit is dependent upon the scenario being played. For example, you might have just 7 turns to take three cities. Resources are distributed at the game’s discretion, so you can’t plan on reinforcements – only hope for them! The game starts you with Normandy 1944 on the Allies side, though you can play the Axis missions at anytime. The campaign missions for October War are also available from the start so you can play an unusual set for strategy games the Israelis or The Arab Coalition. This was kind of a nice touch because I’m an amateur war historian concentrating on WWII and more recent American-involved conflicts, so there is a bit to be learned about borders, battles, and terrain for those not familiar with them. Future maps such as Korea and Vietnam are a little more in my area of expertise.

You can play the game in both multiplayer mode or against the AI. The AI starts off a little easy and your units are somewhat plentiful but, by the end of the Allied campaign, you aren’t hoping so much for a resounding victory as much as a marginal one. The AI gets downright brutal and supplies dwindle to near nothing as the Axis seem to build tanks from the trees. The Axis campaigns are even harder giving any true strategy player a great challenge and any casual player a reason to go back and play the lower missions again. That is the nice thing about strategy games, missions usually have a high replay value and they never are the same match twice, especially ones like this where during each attack the game rolls virtual dice just like in Risk so you can see why a battle came out the way it did.

It’s also important to familiarize yourself with the strengths and weaknesses of your units. Most will match up to each other fairly one to one but then you have artillery that has ranged attack and certain vehicles that can cross map spaces with fewer restrictions. Don’t assume because you have 20 tank units against 20 infantry you are going to win, even a two to one ratio of attack if the enemy is defending better terrain could spell disaster. I had 42 tanks, 18 infantry, and a General bonus and still took triple the damage that I inflicted on the 18 tanks I was attacking in a city.

Multiplayer allows for you to create a game, join a game someone else has created and play a turn in your started games when you have a chance so you aren’t required to play through a whole game immediately almost making it more like a casual game of chess played long distance.

The game would be a near perfect example of a solid portable strategy game except for a pricing issue. The campaign scenarios for Normandy 1944 and October War 1973 are included in the $6.99 game price but if you want to play the advanced scenarios or the two battles for each of these maps it cost $9.99 each. That means to play the full levels of the game on the current two maps it winds up costing you $26.97. Hopefully basic scenarios will be free for the new maps that arrive making the $6.99 value even better but if the beginning is any example it is going to cost the player an extra $9.99 every time a new map pops up if they want the full experience… with five more maps planned (additional $49.95, total $76.92). That is getting into the collector’s edition pricing for a next-gen console game.

Last Shot:
Wars and Battles is a fun, affordable (in its base configuration) strategy game great for on-the-go play. The AI is solid, sometimes bordering on brutal, and the game’s maps and scenarios are well designed. I wish I could have tried out the advanced scenarios and battles but the pricing would be cost prohibitive. If I ever get a chance to try them I’ll let you know how they are, for now I see myself revisiting the maps and scenarios I can play and looking forward to new ones to come.

[easyreview title=”Wars And Battles Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”3″ ]

The Official Star Trek 2015 Convention Las Vegas Round-Up

2015/08/14

Ripper71

Geek News, News, Screenshots / Photos

Star Trek has been around for almost 50 years. Take a moment to let that fact sink in, 50 years! If it wasn’t for the dedication of cast, crew, and fans of this show we would be talking about it as simply the anniversary of a show that had three seasons and then went into the annals of TV history. Instead, it is still alive and when the studios aren’t working on shows or movies, the fans and cast still are with fan made movies and video games that try to keep the spirit kicking. And then, there are the conventions… Like The Official Star Trek 2015 Convention Las Vegas, which I recently attended!

Some people might just see the conventions as a chance to milk the fans and there are plenty who try to do just that – but not at The Official Star Trek 2015 Convention Las Vegas. Creation Entertainment, the company producing the convention, does a great job at working towards making attendees happy and providing them a ton of quality entertainment. There are people, both involved with the convention or simply attending it, that are there for the comradery, the common geekdom of a show they love and even try to live their lives by the lofty goals of. For these people, the convention is a family reunion of sorts. People know each other by name and hugs a plenty are exchanged while donning various costumes from the Star Trek universe.

The fan meet and greet sessions with everyone from show regulars to guest stars who only appeared once draw in the fans looking for a quick, but meaningful, word and maybe a handshake or hug. The real life blood of the experience, though, is in the panels. That’s when cast members are brought together, sometimes for the first time in years, and fall into step as if no time has passed. There is a certain magic in that that flows out into the audience and reinforces their love for the shows and movies. Having Walter Koenig (Chekov TOS) up on stage telling his experiences over the years was special but seeing the reunion of Voyager on their 20th anniversary where they had not been on a stage together since the show ended and yet it was just like another day chatting for them. It was the same with the cast of Enterprise who you could tell had been a merry band of misfits driving their director nuts and yet grew a bit sad and quiet as they spoke of the unexpected ending of their series. As they put it, they gelled as a family just before the fourth season but by then it was already too late.

Many fans probably came to see William Shatner whose panel in the convention guide was described simply as “The Man” but those who missed the merry mayhem of Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton and Brent Spiner as they took the stage in a flurry of chaos that leaked out to the signing session of Patrick Stewart and drew him in briefly missed one of the best moments of the con. My photographer was not a Trekkie when this weekend began but, by the end, I think that might have changed.

Of course the great Leonard Nimoy was felt through the whole weekend and all of the panels, no ill word spoken for a man who took the power he gained in Hollywood to help his fellow man live long and prosper in any way he could.

I’m already looking forward to next year’s 50th Anniversary Star Trek Las Vegas Convention and excited to see what new great moments are just over the horizon. Will William Shatner and George Takei finally bury the hatchet and appear on stage together? Will schedules be cleared so that Voyager’s FULL cast can finally appear together? Will we be in wonderment of all the full surviving casts of each series appearing on stages together? I don’t suppose it matters because there will still be that magic in the air and fans from all over the world meet up with out of this world casts. Until then, Live Long and Prosper!

Image Gallery

World of Tanks Xbox One Review

2015/08/09

Ripper71

News, Reviews, Xbox One News, Xbox One Review

I fell in love with World of Tanks when it was just a wee fledgling of a game. Four years later and with three games running under the Wargaming.net flag the title that steams ahead the most is still the first one they let the public taste: World of Tanks. World Of Tanks has now launched live on Xbox One and, if you you liked it on the Xbox 360 or the PC platforms, then you are in for a grand treat when you get your controller in-hand and start slinging rounds downrange.

Hands On:
Please note that, while I usually list a game’s official features prior to diving into a hands-on, the list is HUGE! Simply way too much to put in front of the hands-on section. An abbreviated version of the list will appear at the end of this review.

The first thing you notice when you get onto the Xbox One version of World of Tanks is just how crisp the visual details are. Looking at the tanks in the garage, the details are exceptional. You can tell that they went through archival photos of the actual tanks and crafted every little detail – even down to the placement of an enemy helmet and defensive logs on the “Fury” tank. This is a recurring theme in this incarnation of the game, everything is HD and rebuilt from the ground up and the hardware of the Xbox One is pushed hard enough that the game had crashing issue when it would launche – it just froze up with all the detail once you entered a match. A reasonable amount of this detail will be later implemented in the PC and Xbox 360 version but the Xbox One is where this game will shine, even in the menus.

If you come straight from the PC version of the game, the menu system is a little daunting at first. If you came from the Xbox 360 version, then there are just a few things to get used to such as the Proving Grounds menu. The nice thing is that the Xbox One version of World of Tanks isn’t just a simple port – actually it is more the opposite as they made a bunch of changes and improvements from the ground up that they plan to implement on the 360 and PC. Once you get past the initial menu navigation you get the pleasure of seeing the tanks you had already collected sitting there in your garage in all their new HD glory. I purposely didn’t check the details of this new version so every update was a surprise. I had expected to see three starter tanks but was jazzed to see my work on the Xbox 360 version reflected in my Xbox One garage selections. I love World of Tanks and had taken quite a while to really appreciate it on the 360 so it was nice to see I didn’t have to start that process all over from scratch.

Another way Wargaming.net helped me to appreciate the detail was by giving me loaner access to a fully stocked garage account so that I could go through and notice all the details added to every single tank. In the past the premium tanks were all about performance and little about how they looked. I can say that I found tanks which I really, really want now that are not necessarily because of beefy performance but just the beautiful, historically-accurate detail of the vehicle. I want the “Ripper” tank so bad I can’t even express it enough. It performs nicely but the tank that has the same nickname as I do also has one of the most amazing paint jobs that reflect the actual vehicle’s paint designs that left me stunned and wanting it.

If you have not played the game on the Xbox 360 I highly recommend the Training and Proving Grounds. These not only provide a bit of starter capitol but they also help you get used to using the controller which is extremely different from the mouse and keyboard, especially when it comes to manual aiming and zoomed shots. A helpful hint on this is to do a lock on target then hit the zoom button so that your turret is oriented and you can make fine calculations. If you have spent some time playing it on the 360 you should be able to jump right in, though the Proving Grounds is a nice warm-up if it has been a while. Playing against the AI also gives you a chance to take in all the new details in the map.

The details in the map are so well done and so dramatic that I went into one map that I had played well over 100 times on the other systems and I didn’t recognize it at all. I thought at first it was an entirely new map since I hadn’t looked at which one was loading. Then I noticed building locations and attack points and realized which map it was. Birds could be heard singing off to one side causing my cats to look that way, fires looked realistic, building had natural looking aging and when damaged natural looking destruction. I was marveling at it all as I drove through a field of high grass at the detail as all of a sudden a murder of crows took flight in front of me and past the screen. I thought I was safe behind a building when all of a sudden a mortar shell struck nearby causing a crater and ground damage that my tank actually bumped on and persisted through the battle. When it rained there was the rain drops on the camera view which shows up in games a lot now but the shine on the armor and the way the water ran off it was spots on physics. I began to hope for rain missions just to see the detailed slosh of puddles and the way the rain ran off of everything. Night battles look like they are truly lit by moonlight or taking place at twilight. Even though all the mechanics were the same from the Xbox 360, the new details and physics improvements on the Xbox One left me stunned.

Probably one of the most shocking things is that World of Tanks is still a free-to-play game that can still be completely free-to-win – though with their HD beauty I think the value of the premium tanks have gone up. When I had access to whichever tanks I wanted to test out on the press account I found myself going toward the ones I thought looked cool as much as the ones that were highest regard for performance. Taking the Ripper out or the Freedom and doing some damage running around in a very detailed or special painted tank was so much fun I didn’t want it to end. As I am writing this I’m itching to get back to the game.

Last Shot:
I was already a fan of the game, but World of Tanks on the Xbox One is superior to other systems and most tank games on the market now. If you wonder whether or not I am right, log on and give it a try. It doesn’t cost anything until you get addicted enough to start investing in it which I have been for some time. Then you can just think of how much money you have spent on other games that have come and gone over the last four years while this one is still going strong. I can’t wait until World of Warplanes and World of Warships make their console debuts, until then I need to get back to the Ripper while I still have access.

[easyreview title=”World of Tanks Xbox One Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”5″ ]

Features:
All Platforms:
Welcome to the first title with cross-platform play between Xbox 360 and Xbox One!
-One account sign in: Freedom to play on any platform – no progress will be lost if you go back and forth between platforms
-All existing Xbox Live accounts will seamlessly work on Xbox 360 and Xbox One
-Voice chat between platforms via Vivox integration
-Achievements transfer between platforms
-Tank Tree Progression Indicator
-Marks of Excellence Medals (no tank art, yet!). Similar to Mastery badges: use player damage + assist damage instead of experience earned
-The Proving Grounds game mode is here! Use any class or tier in your Garage and take on appropriately tiered AI opponents.
-New Main Menu as the first screen before the garage (Multiplayer, Platoon, Team Training, Proving Grounds
-New Achievements

Xbox One:
-All assets from tanks to buildings have been recreated from the ground up to be in High Definition (That’s 350 vehicles and over 1,000 map assets!)
-Exclusive Xbox One Garage: The Garage camera on Xbox One lets you get really close to the tanks for added detail on HD tanks
-You can now view your Service Records from the Post Battle Results Screen
-Twitch Streaming available from your Options Menu
-Access and view the Leaderboards from the Xbox One Dashboard
-View your Achievements and Challenges from Options Menu
-New Game Help system from Options Menu
-Web portal stats available in Snap View
-New timed Challenges that award concept art
-8X the texture resolution of Xbox 360 tanks
-Up to 50,000 polygons per tank
-Maps: Volumetric lighting and fog FX
-HBAO – Horizon Based Ambient Occlusion for more detailed lighting and shadowing
-Physically Based Rendering
-3D vistas for every environment that really ground you in the world
-Higher resolution trees and vastly improved culturals at a far draw distance
-Flow maps for cloud, wind, and cultural movements.
-Improved effects – the Xbox One can handle a higher particle count with greater resolution
-Enhanced explosion effects
-Enhanced battle damage effects to tanks
-Volumetric smoke and explosions
-The sound for World of Tanks on Xbox One has been fully revamped
-Tank engine sounds have been recorded live at a tank yard in the Midwest, cannon fire and explosions amplified to further immerse the player in the battle
-These audio enhancements are not exclusive and will also be added to the Xbox 360 version
-Tutorial missions and tutorial videos now found in “Proving Grounds” mode (by selecting the “Training” option / icon in the carousel)
-Fire FX have been updated
-Tread in water FX have been updated

Onechanbara Z2: Chaos Review (PS4)

2015/08/09

Ripper71

Geek News, News, PlayStation 4 News, PlayStation 4 Review, Reviews

When I was asked if I wanted to review Onechanbara Z2: Chaos, a game about scantily-clad women killing zombies, I was wondering if they had designed this game just for me and if our Editor-in-Chief really needed to ask if I wanted to play. That probably sounds sexist at face value but one of my favorite and most overlooked games of recent years when it comes to zombiefests is Lollipop Chainsaw. While its characters were wearing little costumes and wielding big weapons it didn’t take long to realize that it was a satire about female characters in video games and they made sure to back it up with nice graphics and great game mechanics. It was with these hopes of similar results that I went into Onechanbara Z2: Chaos.

Description:
Onechanbara Z2: Chaos is the latest iteration in the Onechanbara series featuring the world’s sexiest zombie slayers. With two sets of buxom vampire sisters at the player’s disposal, over a dozen stages of high-octane real-time swordplay await, each characterized by the hordes of zombies infesting the land and the over-the-top methods our heroes employ to kill them. Fight off the invasion in gruesome detail, sending limbs and blood flying every which way through a variety of physical attacks and acrobatic maneuvers, occasionally transforming into a demon for short bursts of added power and speed at the cost of life energy. Each of the four members of the so-called “bikini zombie squad” has her own unique abilities, and skillful play is rewarded with orbs that can be exchanged for upgraded weapons and outfits.

Features:
– Zombie-Slaying Action has Never Looked So Good! The bikini samurai squad of Onechanbara return armed with a plethora of new moves and new Dare Drive or Xtasy demonic transformations for short bursts of intense power.

– Four Lovely Ladies, Four Unique Playing Styles. Each of the playable ladies has her own unique weapons and abilities, and players may tag-team among them on the fly or even perform team combos.

– Tons of Customization and Replay Options. In addition to the series’ most involved storyline to date, Mission Mode provides specific challenges to complete, while skilled gameplay will unlock Yellow Orbs which can be exchanged for new gear and outfits to help earn a top spot in the online leaderboards.

– A Suave, Stylish Soundtrack Supported by Dual-Language Voice-Acting. In addition to the funkiest, catchiest and most outlandish soundtrack the franchise has ever known, players may also choose whether to enjoy the gameplay experience with the original Japanese voices or – for the first time in series history – a full English dub.

Hands On:
First things first, this game is satire from the way characters are dressed to the reason they are dressed that way. The characters are designed to be over-the-top just like the comvat moves and combos and, except when reading about the characters or watching cutscenes, their outfits and exaggerated body images play no part in the game to the point you forget about them until you unlock new costume parts through achievements. The amount of cool, weird, and campy clothing and accessories you can get is pretty staggering. You can even put Voltron style armor pieces on the characters to show just how silly they are trying to be and how little they are trying to reflect true standards and ideals (just like Lollipop Chainsaw where you got to dress her as Ash from the Evil Dead movies).

Now that the buxom elephant in the room has been addressed, the question comes up about gameplay. Is Onechanbara Z2: Chaos a solid game disguised as a sexy romp? Yes, thank goodness for that but the short answer is yes – it is a ton of campy fun. There are multiple combos that can be unlocked – both simply and more complex to pull off. The moves are very gratifying to perform and their action-packed results are equally awesome to watch. What’s even cooler is that the actual effects of your combat moves get more epic as your increase your experience. For example, you might do a dash attack that simply knocks an enemy down at the beginning part of the game. However, if you keep upgrading the dash attack you will find that when it strikes that the enemy doesn’t fall down but instead flies across the screen and splats on a wall slowly, giblets slowly sliding down its surface. You feel truly satisfied when you build up an attack and look forward to seeing what it will do next.

There are four characters that you play and are interchangeable at the touch of a button. This means you really have four life bars to work with at any given time and four styles of attacks. This can be crucial when you have enemies that might be more vulnerable to one kind of attack or even only vulnerable to one type (I’m looking at you bastard Mud Men!). So this brings in strategy as well as random mindless hack and slash. You may work on crowd control playing one character, switch to another to deal with specialty monsters then settle on your favorite type of character fighting style for a boss all in the same fight. This kind of planning and forethought that is required really elevates the game from a zombie chopfest to a solid, replayable fighter with lots of strategy. My only complaint about this specialization is that sometimes the timing on a combo has to be so absolutely precise to take an enemy out that it can take a REALLY long time to finally get it to work. A compliment about the controls though would have to be the use of the PS4 controller touchpad which I had quite honestly forgotten about. During some boss battles you are directed to swipe in different directions on the pad which gives a little extra tactile fun to playing (once I figured out it wanted me to use the touch pad instead of the directional sticks).

You can collect coins to buy potions, weapons, and movement upgrades as well as outfits throughout the game. Always keeping a near full health bar through health potions is an important key to survival. You don’t get enough money to unlock all you want, at least not of the first play through so you need to be selective, I found myself just upgrading the weapons on two of the characters, ones that had very different fighting styles so that I could adjust as needed during boss fights or large crowd control. Each character gets three weapons as well (melee, mid range, longer range) so upgrading all of them is that much more difficult. Once again though upgrades look satisfying as well as performing better.

If unlocking more items and getting more combos isn’t reason enough to replay the game, then there is also the fact that you get graded throughout each chapter and unlock achievements which are then compared on an online leader board as well as triggering PS4 achievements. Also, there are different levels of difficulty and challenges besides the main player campaign. This game has legs without even mentioning there are different environments set around the world and if you have favorites you can just replay them if you want.

Last Thoughts:
Onechanbara Z2: Chaos is a great zombie fighting strategy game disguised as a sexist, mindless slash and hack. The dialogue and outfits are meant to be tongue-in-cheek while the action is solid, up-scaling and at times plain unforgiving. If you can get around half of the characters being dressed like lingerie models Onechanbara Z2: Chaos is everything a great fighting game should be.

G-Project G-Tube Bluetooth Speaker Review

2015/07/31

Ripper71

News, Reviews, Tech News, Tech Review

In terms of sheer sound quality, my iPad 2 has served me well over the years. However, it can’t cover half the distance across our room and barely across our bed – it just doesn’t have the volumne. This may not be so bad when playing video games or movies with tons of explosions but if anyone talks quietly playing anything on it their words are completely lost. As a result I am always looking at little portable speakers with good sound clarity in case I want to stream a music app but excellent sound levels and battery life in case I am watching a series poolside. Enter: the G-Project G-Tube Bluetooth capsule speaker.

Features:
BIG SOUND, SMALL PACKAGE – G-TUBE’s sound is delivered through stereo 1.25” speaker drivers, pumping out surprisingly powerful sound for its small size. Now if you’re shopping around for small speakers in this class, everyone is going to tell you that theirs has “great sound for its size”… and while you can’t hear G-TUBE virtually, we can tell you that the same engineers and designers that have unleashed the best reviewed line of outdoor speakers in history, put all their brain and ear power into making sure G-TUBE lives up to the G-Project reputation.

SPLASH PROOF, BUILT TOUGH – IPX5-rated water resistance (a fancy way of saying it’s designed to withstand water splashing from all angles) makes G-TUBE the perfect companion to take to the ocean, lake, pool or shower. Built with a rugged housing structure, wrapped in a full steel grill with protective elastomer on the ends and center to protect it from everyday use and abuse.

PORTABLE PERFORMANCE – G-TUBE has a built-in rechargeable battery for up to six hours of play time. It’s easy to charge – just plug it into any USB phone charger or computer. G-TUBE also has a convenient metal loop so you can use a carabiner or lanyard to hang it from a tree branch, bag or backpack.

HEADPHONES OUT – Plug your headphones into G-TUBE’s headphone jack to stream music wirelessly and keep your phone safe in your bag or backpack.

ALWAYS IN CONTROL – Playback and volume buttons let you quickly adjust the volume or skip back to listen to your favorite song again so you can leave fragile phones or tablets stored safely in your pocket or bag.

Hands On:
To start off testing the little speaker, I went with playing a video game on our television set while also streaming the television show Strike Back on the iPad 2. Whispers to duck were followed by great blasts through the speaker, all completely clear and audible. I found myself watching the iPad 2 and pausing the game even though I was streaming an episode I had already seen. The sound quality was so nice that it overpowered my multi-tasking desires. After a few hours I went back to gaming, forgetting to turn the speaker off.

Following a six hour gaming marathon, I went to listen to some music in the pool only to discover the speaker was still turned on. No problem, it turned out to have plenty of energy left with over 6 hours of playtime and another 6 hours turned on. Blutooth pairing was quick and easy with my smartphone. I put the speaker by the pool and listened to music occasionally, reaching over and adjusting the volume or skipping a track. The area for line in, line out, and charging all screw shut with a waterproof seal to add protection to the inside of the G-Tube and to better survive the waves made as people cannon balled into the pool. Splashes weren’t a worry and the sound carried crystal clear whether playing some heavier bass or songs where clear notes made the music. G-Tube is not designed for block rockin’ beats, mind you, it is a careful balance between size and sound and performs this balancing act exceptionally.

The last couple of tests were of its line-in and line-out functions, so I ran a line-in from the iPad 2 and then my computer – both giving great quality sound as if they were designed to go together and professionally hardwired instead of simple audio jacks. The final test was the one I was most excited for since it really opened up possibilities. I connected my smartphone to the speak via Bluetooth and then put on a pair of headphones. The phone went onto a table and then into a bag on a table. In both cases, the situation provided stable, great connections. The sound was just like I was plugged into the phone instead of the speaker and I walked around the house listening to it on headphone with no reception issues. The great thing about this speaker is that if you are going someplace where your phone can be damaged, you can seal it up in an all weather proof bag but still listen to music on it through the speaker hanging off a clip or a bit of a pocketful in your pants. If something damaging happens you would have to replace the G-Tube which is built for durability rather than you pocket computer/phone which costs a lot more and is far more vital.

Final Thoughts:
I see the G-Tube not only being great for around the house and listening in place of the underwhelming speakers on the iPad 2 but I also see this being used heavily in travel by me so that I can listen to my music while keeping my phone safely stowed. I could even see pairing it up with other speakers with line-in and line-out so that an even fuller sound experience could be had. Whether on the go or just improving your device’s sound, the G-Project G-tube is a great choice for your audio needs.

Batman: Arkham Knight Review (Xbox One)

2015/07/13

Ripper71

Geek News, News, Reviews, Xbox One News, Xbox One Review

There’s an old saying: Be yourself, unless you can be Batman, then be Batman. The Arkham series of Batman video games have only gotten better as it has progressed, with both and gameplay and storylines being simply outstanding. Then came delays on Batman: Arkham Knight and concerns being voiced about the state of the game. Unfortunately, once it was released, the PC version was so bad that if Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment had the chance they would bury all the copies in the desert hole vacated by all those E.T. the Extraterrestrial Atari game cartridges. The port is so bad that refunds were issued and, let’s face it, that is not done easily on digital distribution platforms. At the same time, everyone was stating how good the PlayStation 4 version of the game was and that it is a perfect chapter in the Arkham series. So… what about the Xbox One version? In the shuffle, most folks didn’t seem to know much of anything at all about it. Well, we here at Gamingshogun.com have the goods on the Xbox One version in our review of Batman: Arkham Knight!

Hands On:

Our friends at IGN did a very comprehensive graphics comparison between Batman: Arkham Knight on both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One platforms. I could try all day to describe the differences, but here is a nice little video clip they put together to show the differences (Do our work for us, IGN!).

Having watched it many times now, I can tell there are slight differences between the two but they are ever so slight. With the minor exceptions regarding some lighting effects, there isn’t much difference. So, no matter what was your game console of choice, you can pick the game up without fear as you will have a gorgeous game to play.

With that out of the way, we can get down to the nuts and bolts of the game and whether it is a waste of your money on any system besides the PC. If you liked the other games in the series, you should like this one. All the game mechanics synonymous with the series, such as the “detective mode” and launching off of buildings to glide through the streets are still in play, most with slight enhancements. Just as in previous games, the buttons multitask so hitting a series of them might be necessary to perform a task but the combos are kept simple so that you aren’t fumbling with them while trying to figure out the next place to grapple or the direction you need to move for a combo attack. If you played the other games as I did, the combos and controls felt like second natur. If you haven’t played the other games, they are still fairly easy to pick up with the controller layout reference being just a couple button pushes away. Also, there are hints that pop up on the screen while playing and during loading screens as friendly reminders.

The biggest change in gameplay is, without a doubt, the addition of the Batmobile – which, technically, is more than just a Batmobile as it also changes into the Bat Tank. Please note that is not the official name for it but that is what the street thugs call it and when it comes on-scene, they go running like crazy. The Bat Tank does bring up an interesting point with Batman in that he doesn’t kill the street criminals but he uses a cannon to destroy drones. Not to worry though as the Bat Tank automatically tells when it is firing on people or drones and if there is a person involved it uses non-lethal rounds like a souped-up police bean bag gun. Some of the wrecks it causes with manned vehicles could be argued to be hard for a person to survive without being maimed or worse but the game gives these situations the benefit of the doubt and, in many crashes you cause, you will see the passengers and drivers crawling out of the wreck and making a run for it.

There was a lot of concern going into this game that the Batmobile might make the game too easy to play, especially with its tank mode. The developers definitely kept this in mind and the game has parts where you can’t physically use the Batmobile as well as parts where you have to do so. That being the case, there are chances to do combo fights with the Batmobile like it was another person and though those moments feel a bit overpowered. However, those moments feel really fun and satisfying and is entirely to your discretion to use them or not.

You earn points through gameplay and mission completions which can upgrade not just your skills but your Batmobile’s skills as well with Lucious and Alfred sending Batman additional upgrades as the game calls for it. Feel free to save up some points in case you find a challenge mission particularly hard and want to feed some points into skills that help it but mostly the points feed into your favorite playstyle. Love launching off the buildings and gliding long distances? There’s a skill for that! Prefer traveling by Batmobile? Then you can concentrate your points on that – just remember there are times when the Batmobile isn’t available for mission, so try not to put ALL your points into it!

There are a ton of side missions and the game really plays up the sandbox style where you can concentrate on the main mission or spend hours just running around breaking up mobs. You can easily get days, if not weeks, of playtime out of this game and most of the side missions feel like they serve a purpose more than just helping you level and get skill points.

Last but not least let’s talk about the storyline without giving too much away. The game draws upon the entirety of the Batman universe, picking and choosing how to use the best moments with the best characters and watching some of my favorite comic book moments play out in moving scenes with exceptional voice acting. I consider myself a Batman fan but by no means an expert yet I still recognized key moments in his lore play out throughout the game in a seamless manner. It was surprising how well they could be stitched up into one encompassing tale, even using pseudo flashbacks that Batman knew about but had not witnessed.

I forgot to mention all the different skins for Batman, the Batmobile, and pretty much every character that helps you in the game. So many skins to get!

Last Call:
There is so much to Batman: Arkham Knight that I will still be working on the side missions for some time to come. I am already planning on picking up the Season Pass because I can’t wait to see and play more of the story. It feels weird to say this but I feel grateful to be able to play such a diverse and amazing game and even with the port failure of the PC version, I would gladly and quickly pre-order another installment on a next-gen console if they decided to make one, I simply don’t want it to end!

[easyreview title=”Batman: Arkham Knight (Xbox One) Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”5″ ]

Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition Review (PS4)

2015/06/28

Ripper71

News, PlayStation 4 News, PlayStation 4 Review, Reviews

Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition Screenshot

There’s just something about anime and big swords that just go great together. I think maybe even more so for anime video games, because there is something particularly satisfying about being the one who is swinging those big swords. Jumping ridiculously high in the air, coming down is a helicopter flurry of blades and following it up by knocking your enemy out of the park is totally my cup of sencha. Honestly, it was those games that got me into anime such as Bleach, Black Butler, and Death Note thought it was the likes of Akira and Ghost on the Shell that got me to accept that my 8-bit Final Fantasy was gonna be anime. Basically, the point I am getting at it there is a lot of anime in many forms and video games are some of its best, those who don’t accept it are missing out on great games like Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition.

Hands On:
For those of you who can count to 5 and seem a bit confused because you thought you heard of a Devil May Cry 4 back about seven years ago – don’t worry, you would be correct and this is not supposed to be a new number/iteration in the series. This is the suped-up, next-gen special edition with updated graphics, three new playable characters, and a brutal Legendary Dark Knight mode. My suggestion with that last feature would be to play through once on a lower difficulty mode because you will want the health stars and golden life orbs to survive this brutal trip.

The game has a high replay factor since you can play as Dante, Lady, Trish, and Vergil. Each character has their own styles and strengths which makes playing through the same level still interesting depending on who you are controlling. Lady is not primarily a melee fighter, so keep your distance – especially since she is human so harder to heal and keep alive. Trish has plenty of tricks but you need to keep her in close and be aware of her directions. Vergil is a melee beast but easier to master if you give Dante a playthrough first. Dante is well rounded and if you get overwhelmed and start button mashing, you might still survive with him where the other three require more finesse. If memorizing long button combinations is too hard for you, there is an auto mode which requires only remembering how many times to hit a button and when to pause, almost like Morse code fighting.

If the different difficulty levels and different character choices still aren’t enough reason for you to play through again each level is also graded on speed, style and finding hidden objects. Since finding hidden things and speed seldom work together and style is somewhere in between it can take multiple runs to get the highest score you can in each subject and several runs to get the highest score possible overall. Then you do it for each character.

Replays might seem kinda long if you couldn’t skip the cutscenes but you can. This is also nice for those who don’t care about story and focus on the fighting because they can jump right along. I think players should watch the cutscenes, at least the first time, otherwise they are missing out on the overall experience. The cutscenes in Dante’s story are pretty long but very well developed, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some people rewatch them on purpose. The cutscenes from other storylines seem fairly dependent on Dante’s, so I would recommend playing through first on him again.

Last Shot:
Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition is everything players wanted in a revamp: updated graphics, more playable characters, and an extra difficulty level all wrapped up in a replay-encouraging game. This makes me dream of all kinds of reboots I would like to see done right, with upgraded graphics and characters we always dreamed of getting our hands on. It’s not very often that a revamp exceeds our hopes.

[easyreview title=”Devil May Cry Special Edition Review 4 Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”5″ ]

The 2015 Amazing Las Vegas Comic Convention Photo Gallery

2015/06/28

Ripper71

Geek News, News, Screenshots / Photos

This was the third year for the Amazing Las Vegas Comic Convention and the guests and fun just keep getting better and better. Comic book legends such as George Perez, Kevin Eastman, Steve McNiven, and Rob Liefeld were mixing it up with stars like John Barrowman, Chris Casamassa, Chad Rook, and Tom Fleecs all through the convention. The panels were exceptional and still personal in size as you could make eye contact with Tyler Mane or had Greg Capullo lean over you with a mic to answer questions with John Romita Jr. There was no substitute for the experience that Jim Shooter had to share though the most fun panel was probably put on by Realmcast where I learned I freeze up on trivia but everyone got a prize who showed up (they really had to lob my question to me and one girl won a prize for returning from the restroom). The comic prices weren’t just great but amazing living up to the convention’s name and places like Maximum Comics even had carnival games from spin the wheel to Plinko! to toss the turd in the toilet.

The only drawback was that the ALVCC exclusive comics were priced out of the average visitor’s budget – especially considering they could get a regular comic book AND get it signed for about half the price. I really wanted a Boba Fett cover but wound up buying a comic for a buck and getting it signed for free.

Other than that one little issue, this is a terrific con where you can see big names in comics and media up close and personal for a great price.