Author - Ripper71

Deus Ex: The Fall Review (iOS)

2013/08/06

The Deus Ex series will always stand out to me for the infamous “hostage mission”. I, like so many other players, messed around in that office, collecting stuff only to get to the first mission location to find out the hostages were dead and all the cops gave me the stink eye. Heck, more than the stink eye – they didn’t spare a choice word for my getting those poor people killed. I started over and tore it up, becoming a hero to my AI peers and setting a whole different tone for the game. Timed missions and dialogue decisions that heavily impacted the game were hallmarks of the series, so when the possibility to continue that experience on the go came along with Deus Ex: The Fall, I was more than happy to go “Aug” or go home.

Description:

Deus Ex: The Fall is set in 2027– a golden era for science, technology and human augmentation, but also a time of great social divide and global conspiracy. Powerful corporations have seized control from governments and command the drug supply needed by augmented humans to survive.

In this chaos Ben Saxon, a former British SAS Mercenary who underwent physical augmentation, is desperate for the truth behind the drug conspiracy. Betrayed by his private military employers, the Tyrants, not only is his own life at risk but for all augmented humans, time is running out…

Deus Ex: The Fall is a story driven action-RPG and the first Deus Ex in the series to be released on mobile and tablet devices. The game includes never before seen characters from the novel Deus Ex: The Icarus Effect, picking up directly where the book finishes.

Features:

Every action has a consequence
Unravel and survive a global conspiracy
Hours of gameplay with multiple ways to play
Search for the truth spanning for mafia hideouts in Moscow to the slums of Panama
High impact action and combat
Intuitive touch screen controls
Fully explorable, stunning environments
Visually stunning graphics, sound and music
Immersive storyline
Original story set in the Deus Ex universe
Play as you want: full on action or stealth
Social and hacking skills
Unique visual design

Hands On:

After reading all of the above before getting my hands on the game, you can see why I was psyched. Unfortunately, the game has quite a few shortcomings – albeit, shortcomings that aren’t really the fault of the developer!

Thankfully, the storyline and player choices are just as good as the previous games. I love a good, story-driven game that keeps me wondering what is going to happen next and this game delivers. It had its hooks in me before the credits kicked in with a lengthy and story-filled opening. It reminded me of a James Bond film where before the scantily clad silhouettes start dancing across your screen. I literally said out loud, “Wow! That was just the opening!” then had to explain myself to the others in the room. The story refused to let up or slow down either, keeping a very even pace. That being said, you had better not start snooping in all the trashcans or people will probably die. Also, with the regular changes in location, attitudes, and dress styles of your enemies, you don’t get bored with the stunning graphics and scenery.

Going through the tutorial it was clear that the developers had listened to the complaints about other shooters/fighters on the iOS platform and had put in an auto-targeting system that allowed for minor adjustments to try for accuracy. Brilliant, I thought, just what is needed on this platform so you can concentrate on moving and pulling the trigger which, on a handheld game system, pretty much takes up all the hands you have. Also the melee system was set up so that if you got within melee distance of a target two giant buttons popped up on the screen giving the choice of lethal or non-lethal takedowns (and remember, these kind of actions make a difference in a Deus Ex game) so that, after you choose, you see a short animation of the takedown then your back in game to see any immediate repercussions.

It all sounds great right? Well it doesn’t take long to tell where it isn’t so right and that really comes down to the same issue every shooter faces on the iOS. I download and devour shooters on the iPad and iPhone – constantly downloading and deleting them. I am determined to find one that I can point to as the “perfect” iOS shooter experience. Some have come close, real close, and Deus Ex is up there with them because it was designed to get past the issued that plagues the platform. The auto-targeting was a great idea and, at first, works pretty well. At lower levels where the AI isn’t very sharp, they come charging down in a row at you and you can take them out. Then they learn they will live longer if they take cover and things get dicey. They also know how to work as a team with flank and covering fire. So an enemy pops behind cover and leans out to take shots, the autotarget is aiming center mass so it is just shooting boxes. You can slide out from your cover and then aim the gun for their heads but the action of moving from cover, turning your cam view and aiming your gun requires about three hands. I found myself doing weird balance and juggling of the console to try and complete the task. At some locations it is possible to take pre-assigned cover which allows you to aim the gun then lean out and fire it, a very nice solution to the issue except sometimes the cover doesn’t want to take or worse doesn’t want to let you go afterwards so that as you finish off one enemy the other that was flanking you has you trapped. Making weapons and armor improvements help with this but I still found saving after almost every kill the biggest savior.

The other issue would be in the melee attacks. If you can’t get behind an enemy or charge them before they can shoot you you can find yourself toast on higher levels. I would wait for an enemy to come down a corridor while I was in a room against a wall and my plan is to do a takedown, only to have them know I was there before rounding the side of the wall and shooting me right through the wall. In theory you are supposed to be able to do a takedown the same way, through the wall, there is even an achievement but they see you before your buttons pop up.

Last Call:

This game suffers from many of the same issues that this platform holds for all shooters, you need an extra hand. Deus Ex: The Fall is a fun, immersive game with outstanding graphics and a story which hooks you quick and keeps you enthralled. I just wish it was on a more enjoyable platform for shooters, then it would be a tour-de-force.

[easyreview title=”Deus Ex: The Fall Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4″ ]

Rise of the Triad Review (PC/Steam)

2013/08/05

Ripper71

News, Reviews, Windows PC News, Windows PC Review

Many of our readers either aren’t old enough to remember the original Wolfenstein 3D (many weren’t even born yet), but it was huge. It made he biggest splash any game made at the time. It is still considered the godfather of the modern first person shooter and it wasn’t long before the code was hacked and dozens of re-skinned versions with every imaginable subject matter flooded the market. Apogee realized it should capitalize on its own success with a sequel and started working on Rise of the Triad: Wolfenstein 3D II. This project eventually got cancelled, rumored to make room in the market for DOOM. The game did get released without the Wolfenstein name and the end product which was a solid game with Indiana Jones style traps. Now, Apogee has brought it back for a whole new generation to appreciate. Enter, Rise of the Triad.

Description:
Apogee Software and Interceptor Entertainment proudly present the rebirth of the cult-classic first-person shooter, “Rise of the Triad” Bigger, better and more ludicrous than ever before. Powered by the industry-leading Unreal Engine 3 from Epic Games, “Rise of the Triad” includes a full single-player campaign, a fully featured multiplayer experience and so much more.

Features:
– Step into the shoes of the H.U.N.T. (High-Risk United Nations Taskforce) with five unique characters, each with different play styles.
– Blast through over 20 of levels of explosive single-player action.
– Unique multiplayer maps bring back all the fun and excitement of classic ROTT.
– The full arsenal of over-the top weapons is back, including the Flamewall, Firebomb, Split Missile, Drunk Missile and, of course, the Excalibat!
– The maniacal modes return, too, with God mode, Elasto mode, Mercury mode, Shrooms mode and everyone’s favorite, Dog mode!
– Build your own levels, mods and share them soon with Valve’s Steam Workshop
– Offline single-player and multiplayer allows for instant action.
– Find tons of secrets, collectables, special events and hidden areas to explore.
– Get more than 100 achievements to add to your score, which is tracked on our worldwide leaderboard and stat-tracking system.
– ROTT is bloodier and more ludicrous than ever, with full character and enemy dismemberment.
– The iconic original soundtrack has been completely re-forged in the fires of heavy metal!
– Nostalgia abounds with the option to play with all the original sounds and music.
– Built on fully-licensed Unreal Engine 3 technology, ROTT will run on low-end PCs and push high-end PCs to their limits

Hands On:
Rise of the Triad, or R.O.T.T. as it became more commonly known, had its own special way of punishing the run and gun player. Getting enemies to come to you is generally a better plan in this game, where you might round a corner and see a dozen enemy gunning you down. Also, the game is loaded with traps! Some of these traps are fairly obvious – triggered by stepping on a discolored stone or section of ground. Ceilings come down and crush you, pungi sticks stab you when you fall in hidden pits, and spikes stab down from the ceiling. At the time, they were really creative concepts. Today, however, players desensitized by trap/horror games or even the Indiana Jones movies might not be so easily impressed. Personally, I found it just as much fun and challenging as back in the day – some triggers open hidden chambers filled with coins or weapons while others trigger death.

On the subject of hidden weapons, this game rewards the explorers early with some very cool and over the top weapons. You have the straight forward leftovers from the Wolfenstein 3D roots such as the Walther, MP40 and rocket launcher but then it adds its own such as heat-seeking missiles, fire wave grenade launchers, multiple missile launchers and more that I won’t spoil by mentioning here. There are even shape shifting and mood altering drugs to really make things crazy.

Gore mode can be implemented in the game too, which makes it even more over the top as bodies blow into pieces and if you shoot a soldier in the leg enough their leg gets shot off and they bleed out. Same with heads and arms, a well placed explosive will have you finding pieces of the same body all over a room. Violence, gore, and language would be three reasons I wouldn’t recommend this for younger players though the gore can be turned off.

Since I was playing hard difficulty I noticed what might not be so noticeable on easy or medium settings, you can go a long ways between checkpoints. As a result when you die you have to cover a lot of the same ground again and again because there is no way to know whether a trigger will help or hurt you until you hit it, so you could be just outside the exit of the level, hit a trigger, die and have to complete as much as half of the level again. There were a few cases where I just wanted to finally finish the level and just stopped hitting triggers.

Last Call:
There will be naysayers who will point out that games and movies have desensitized players and so this game may not have the impact as it did back in the day. It is still a solid play that holds up well over time and with the beautiful remastering is an absolute pleasure to dive back into. I kept telling myself I would just play a little more and before I knew it the night was done and I was sore from sitting in one spot too long. R.O.T.T. is a nostalgic trip for those old enough to remember playing it at release and is a solid example of what they missed when first person shooters were defined.
[easyreview title=”Rise Of The Triad Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4″ ]

A Brief History Of The World Review (iOS)

2013/07/26

Ripper71

News, Reviews, Windows PC Review

My first review for GamingShogun.com was for a Risk clone turn-based strategy game for the iOS. I still play it after all this time because I love a good strategy game and that one holds up even after all the advances in phones and phone gaming. Heck there are consoles that now use phone technology at their cores to enable them to keep costs down while still giving great performance, phone gaming and graphics are now some serious business. Now when reviewing a game for phones and tablets they need to be as good as a current gen console counterpart. With all that in mind it is a pleasure to recommend A Brief History Of The World.

Description:
Lead your empire to victory in this turn-based strategy game! Play as the character of Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, or Napoleon Bonaparte and command armies through 6 riveting epochs in history, with 42 major empires and 15 minor empires. Choose from over 40 event cards to enhance replayability and alter the course of history.

All set to an epic soundtrack (or listen to tracks from your own music library) with beautiful graphics and original artwork from the Ragnar Brothers’ board game. With no setup time required, no pieces to lose, and no arguments about the rules, the future of board games is here and A Brief History of the World gives you exactly what you want — to play!

Features:
– Easy-to-learn and easy-to-play
– Comprehensive tutorial
– Play solo against varying levels of AI
– Enjoy a game with family and friends around the table or as “pass and play”
– Online multiplayer games available for up to 6 players
– Post your scores to Game Center and climb the leaderboards

Hands On:
So it doesn’t take long to realize that this is not your parents’ Risk game, though the base premise is very similar. You start out with your countries and try to take over empires much like Risk. At first it feels and looks like Risk then the cards are introduced. The cards often give extra armies to move around or a way to move well beyond your territory to get a presence in an empire far from your borders. When you go to take over a country with a standing army you have a dice roll just like in Risk but they can be effected by rules and Event cards to give each side an advantage in the roll. This all sounds rather complicated but once you play through the tutorial a couple times it starts to make perfect sense.

Then the weird part of the game happens when you end your turn, the game awards bonuses for control of areas then the players/AI choose new empires. So you don’t play the empire for more than one turn at a time and you don’t try to conquer the whole world like Risk. Instead you just advance an empire the best you can in one round and the player with the most bonus coins at the end of all the rounds wins. Because the game basically resets after each round a player can be in a painful dead last on the first couple of turns and still win the game. This is particularly cool since in traditional Risk once you were getting slaughtered the fun left the game, the only thing you could do was maybe decide who else you wanted to win and help them by bashing futilely into their biggest enemy. Risk lasts for hours, since this is just six turns doing the best you can it can be played relatively quick while still being a very different game every time. The Event cards in particular are clever and really lend a freshness to the game while maintaining the classic board game feel.

Last Call:
A Brief History Of The World is designed to be a brief turn-based strategy game which is perfect for the on the go, play when you can iOS platforms. It requires strategic thought and planning but can be played in a relatively short time. It’s only $2.99 and has limitless replayability with no pay to win issues like many iOS apps these days. I wouldn’t be surprised if a couple years down the line I still have this game on my phone, and with how many games I have to cycle through on my systems that is saying something.
[easyreview title=”A Brief History Of The World Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4″ ]

That Monsters Game Review (iOS)

2013/07/18

Ripper71

Mobile News, Mobile Review, News, Reviews

This is the summer to have monster fever. With the House of Mouse putting out a sequel to their much beloved monster movie, Monsters Inc., you can’t go to a movie theater or many other places without getting a blast of monsters. The video game market is definitely no exception but the offerings are definitely hit and miss, so it is nice to recommend a game that is right on the money. That Monsters Game is a fun play for the whole family on-the-go and did I mention it’s free?

Description:
When the nutty Professor Marty’s newest experiment goes horribly wrong, monsters are created by the masses and threaten to destroy his laboratory. Demolish these monsters by matching three or more and zapping them away.
Collect coins and gems throughout the game and use them to buy Labkits, tools to destroy even more monsters. Use earned XP stars to unlock game play modes and survive until the next level!
“With the bright colors, fast pace and never ending monsters filling up your screen, That Monsters Game provides a fun pastime for every type of mobile gamer,” said Neville Attard, founder of Software Prodigy.
Be prepared to swipe your way to monster-zapping victory!

Features:
– Three Unique game play modes that unlock different tools and challenges.
– Beautiful graphics and gameplay features.
– If you’re fast enough, earn extra points during monster explosions!
– Play alone or invite your friends to help you take on the monsters and compete for the ultimate high score!
– Participate in weekly tournaments with your Facebook friends, earn achievements and make your way to the global leaderboards on Game Center.
– If you ever get stuck, just email Professor Marty for a hint!

Hands On:
This game is just a whole lot of addictive fun. The music is whimsical, the sound effects are fittingly silly and the graphics are nice and clean and only as complex as they need to be. I love the electricity effect you get when you start making the connections and to make sure the game has a whole family feel, the critters cheer you on as you zap them.

Gameplay is straight forward with a similar feel to a match three game such as Bejeweled though I think the monster theme and whimsical style make this game much more enjoyable. Also instead of moving blocks to match you drag your finger along to the monsters of the same color and as long as they are adjacent to the previous monster they electrify. The funny thing is it is harder to describe gameplay instead of just playing it so here is a trailer.

There! That was easier! You get bonuses for combos and you collect coins during play for special attacks. You get three plays to start with and earn new plays every 15 minutes after that unless you decide to purchase plays using real currency. That is one of the very important and great things about this game, if you want to put some money into it to help support the game and make it so that you get more attacks and plays you can but if you just want it to be a free to play game you can keep it that way and still play great. Many games claim to be free to play but then prove to be pay to win when you get past the first couple levels, this game isn’t which makes me want to invest in the game and the developers even more.

That Monsters Game can be played alone or with friends through contacts such as Facebook. You can even start tournaments with your friends and see who gets the highest score and the champion achievement. This is also a free function so you can start you tournaments and play away without spending a dime.

There are three types of gameplay, the standard blitz where you score as high as you can in a limited time, challenge mode where you have to make certain combos or shapes and the strategy mode where you don’t have to worry about time but instead about agitated monsters that jump at the screen if you don’t eliminate within 5 turns, once they do that three times it is game over.

This really is a just about an all ages game, there are no scary monsters and the gameplay would be good for kids just learning shapes and colors as well as getting them to plan ahead on how to make moves, all while cute monsters get zapped and cheer them on. For the older players the challenges of scores, achievements and tournaments should keep you going.

Last Call:

That Monsters Game is a great addictive game with a whimsical atmosphere that hides the challenge within. It is a truly free-to-play which is unusual these days, you only pay if you want to not wait for more plays or to build up enough coins for special attacks. I found myself getting bored with Bejeweled but I played this game until my phone battery was drained. Give it a play and I bet you find yourself playing it everywhere you go while waiting in lines, waiting for meetings, maybe waiting in the audience for that certain summer monster cartoon to start…

[easyreview title=”That Monsters Game Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4″ ]

Dominions 4 Preview (PC)

2013/07/16

Ripper71

News, Previews, Windows PC News, Windows PC Preview

When people think of turn based strategy games, they think of titles like Jagged Alliance or, if they are older, Risk. Those who really play this game genre might think of the Civilization or Total War games. Then there are the hardcore who laugh at these games and consider them to be games to play when taking a break from their usual strategy games. These folks are often Dominions players and they have every right to be foaming at the mouths at the thought of Dominions 4 being on its way. Last week, we got the chance to preview it!

Official Description:

You are a God! You are master and ruler of a loyal nation. You have unimaginable powers at your disposal. You have claimed this world as yours. But there are others who stand in your way. You must defeat and destroy these pretenders. Only then can you ascend to godhood and become the new Pantokrator. In Dominions you take control of a powerful being that rules a nation and aspires to godhood. The type of Pretender Gods can vary from magically powerful archmages to huge titans or large monuments. The pretender gods have different strengths dependent on what kind of god you choose and what nation you play.

When you start the game you decide what kind of god you are and how your Dominion affects your lands and followers. It is an expression of your divine might and the faith of your followers. If your dominion dies, so do you. Your dominion also inspires your sacred warriors and gives them powers derived from your dominion. In order to win and become the one true god you have to defeat your enemies one of three different ways: conquer their lands, extinguish their dominion or claim the Thrones of Ascension.

Dominions is set in a fantasy world that draws inspiration from historical nations, cultures and myths. You will not encounter the elves of conventional fantasy in this game. Instead you might lead a nation of Vanir from old Norse myth. Aztecs, Romans, Israelites, Greeks, Shona and Kievian Rus are just a few of the inspirational sources of the game.

Features:

Many monsters (2000+) and many many special abilities.
About 75 different nations to choose from, varying from Marignon with paladins, witch hunters and inquisitors to under water nations like the Lovecraft inspired R’lyeh.
Three Eras to play in, Early era is most magic and the late era is more technologically advanced with good steel weapons and armors.
Design your pretender god and how his dominion influences provinces and his sacred units.
Multiplayer with simultaneous turns (up to 28 players).
Teamplay with one Pretender player and a bunch of Disciple players per team.
Network or Play by E-Mail for multiplayer.
AI opponents for single- or multiplayer game.
Random maps with cave, mountain passes and rivers (rivers can only be passed when frozen).
An extensive magic system with over 800 spells.
Blood magic, power your rituals with human sacrifices.
Global ritual that affect the entire world.
More than 300 magic items.
Unique magic artifacts that all players compete for, once forged no one else can make it.
Mercenaries are bought on a global market.
Scouts, Assassins, Spies, Seducers, Corruptors, Werewolves, Illusionists and more can be sneaking in your provinces.
Claim the thrones of Ascension to gain special powers and eventually win the game.
Permanent battle afflictions.
Easy to Mod (2d graphics)

Hands On:

This game is deep – so deep and in-depth it makes any other strategy game I have played feel like Checkers. The first Dominions came out in 2002 and, my guess as to the reason they are only up to part 4 is because it takes a couple years to really get a good play and feel from them. The possibilities and choices are already staggering and this is without the massive community additions that can be expected after release. If you are a regular player of Dominions, there are some nice changes and additions made to the game since Dominions 3 with developers taking community requests to heart. Those who have never played a Dominions game or have not played one in years, may I suggest you play the tutorial? Maybe a few times?

The key is really to just go in trying to have fun as it will take a while to really learn and understand all the depth and nuances of the game. You will no doubt lose plenty when you are first figuring things out. If you stick with it, you will find the game very rewarding and winning feel like a true accomplishment. It also helps exercise your brain which, let’s face it, we can all do with more of. This is not the game to play if you have had a mind frazzling day at work – if so, you are better off sticking to a nice shooter or casual game. However, if you have had a mind-numbing, dull day at work, this might just be the game for you as you delve into just about every aspect of civilization – including faith development and mythos! Then, once you get all that down, you can build your own mods for the game to challenge other players with! With such an open modding system combined with an already deep gameplay, this could literally be an endless game, never finished or truly mastered, always a challenge. Wow.

First Round:

It was sheer luck that I have had some experience with previous Dominions games because, otherwise, it would have taken a lot longer to tell readers about this game. In fact, it probably it would have gone from a preview to a review in the time it would take for me to get a foothold in this massive undertaking. Dominions 4 will not be for all players, it won’t be for a lot of players actually. Those who like the Dominions games with love it, those who are willing to give it a try and stick with it will find it satisfying and, just as importantly, mentally stimulating – not something that common in games these days.

Leisure Suit Larry in The Land of The Lounge Lizards Reloaded Review (PC)

2013/07/15

Ripper71

News, Reviews, Windows PC News, Windows PC Review

A bunch of us were crowded around a little computer monitor, one of the only computers in our dorms and we planned for a long night… with Larry. We all knew about the almost 40 year old virgin and his quest to fix that last bit. We all knew that you never truly got to see anything, it was a big tease. Still, we all knew it was great tongue-in-cheek fun and crowded in with a stack of his adventures – the first of which being Leisure Suit Larry in The Land of The Lounge Lizards which is a great place to start as we reload our time with him. The folks at Replay Games have remastered this classic PC game and “reloaded it” for new gamers as well as those that experience it back in the late 1980s.

Official Description:

Leisure Suit Larry is one of the most iconic characters in the history of computer gaming.

The first game in the series, Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, was first published in 1987 and helped build the Sierra On-Line dynasty. Featured in a score of original software titles since then (not even counting numerous anthologies, repackagings, and cameo appearances), the series’ namesake hero, Larry Laffer, is a bumbling, persistent everyman who just wants to be loved. Is that so wrong?

With the help of Al Lowe, Larry’s progenitor and designer of all of Larry’s classic adventures, Replay Games is remaking the landmark first game for an entire new generation (or two!). Expanded and enhanced in every detail and ready for both mobile devices and PCs, Larry is being reborn for the players who might’ve seen their parents (or grandparents!) playing Larry behind closed doors!

Although the games were marketed as “naughty,” Al Lowe’s Larry was comedic but never explicit, and the remake retains that standard. There’s no full-frontal nudity, no four-letter words, and no on-screen sex. But we do have our comedic priorities: Larry is a story of a man on the make, and the game drips with innuendo, flirts with perversity, and oozes sexuality from every pixelated pore.

• Expanded puzzles, locations, and gameplay
• Gorgeous, all-new high-res 16:9 backgrounds
• Over 3,000 frames of hand-drawn animation!
• Sophisticated lighting and spot animations enliven every location
• Thousands of humorous responses allow Players to enjoy exploring everything onscreen
• Hilarious branching dialogues with the main characters
• All-new Vegas-style musical score
• Fully voiced by the actors who originated the roles
• Redesigned by Al Lowe and Josh Mandel

Hands On:

At its core, Leisure Suit Larry is a point and click adventure. However, given the subject matter of the game and how it is presented to the player, the game becomes such a departure from that genre that it is easy to forget the simplicity of its gameplay. The choices you make can lead anywhere from the bedroom with a buxom beauty to a mad scientist’s laboratory to even becomng a re-animated corpse. There are puzzles to solve like where to get batteries for a remote control to distract a pimp so you can meet a working girl but, it is mostly point and click: Combine objects, solve puzzles, etc. This game is really about the nostalgia of getting back in the polyester party and trying to figure out how to turn cold as ice ladies into putty in your inexperienced hands.

The graphics are nicely cleaned up from the old days as part of the “reload” as is a complete upgrade of the sound and music. Basically, you get all the charm of the old game in a nice, clean, new package. Since the game already had tons and tons of charm to begin with, that actually goes a long ways.

Last Call:

My review of Leisure Suit Larry Reloaded is, as you can read, short and sweet. However, that’s because playing it is such a no-brainer. It is still loads of fun to play and, if you have never played it before, then you really should – not just for the history lesson which it is, but because Leisure Suit Larry in The Land of The Lounge Lizards gave us a gaming icon and franchise that every gamer should experience. The original came out 26 years ago! It is so nice to see it all shiny and new again.

[easyreview title=”Leisure Suit Larry in The Land of The Lounge Lizards Reloaded Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4″ ]
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Dark Review (PC/Steam)

2013/07/15

Ripper71

News, Reviews, Windows PC News, Windows PC Review

Last year, I was lucky enough to be at the announcement of Kalypso’s “Dark” and get my hands on the playable demo at the time. By “get my hands on it”, I mean I played it so much that some people thought I was the guy paid to demo the title and began asking me all kinds of questions about the game – many of which I was able to answer from studying it at the start of the evening. I took an occasional break to check out Omerta – City of Gangsters some more, a game I fell in love with as well, but it wouldn’t be long before I was back behind a controller moving Eric Bane through the shadows. I wrote about Dark a couple of times since then, saying what it might wind up being like. Now that the game is officially out, however, I have play the retail build and can tell you exactly what it is like!

Official Description:

Dark is a stealth-based action-adventure RPG in which you take on the role of the ultimate hunter: a vampire. Ambush your enemies from the shadows, roam the darkness and use powerful vampiric skills to dispatch your opponents. The intricate story of Dark will take you into the midst of a world of blood and darkness, where the hunter can easily become prey. Strike down other vampires, improve your character and develop formidable skills such as instantly disappearing from view to take your enemies by surprise.

Features:

Stealth and action meet role-playing: earn experience, pick your dialogue choices and develop your skills to become the ultimate hunter
Use impressive vampire skills and powerful melee attacks to eliminate your foes from the cover of darkness – go invisible, stalk your prey unnoticed and devastate them with up-close attacks
A variety of enemies await your fangs – from mortal human police and security guards to fellow creatures of the night
Make your way through lavishly appointed environments, from the city museum to the hidden fortress of a vampire lord hidden within a towering skyscraper
Impressive 3D cel-shaded graphics

Hands On:

In Dark, you play as Eric Bane, a newly-turned vampire who has to feed from either his maker or an old vampire within a certain amount of time or he will become a mindless ghoul. Kalypso stressed from the very beginning this is a third person stealth, not shooter, game at several points through its development. No matter how many enemies you kill with guns, you will rely on your newly endowed vampire skills to get you through the never ending night. It has some definite similarities to Dishonored, such as the teleporting jumps and the use of misdirection but it is definitely a game with its own feel and atmosphere. You stalk alleys, nightclubs, office buildings, and several other locations trying to find your master, or a master for the moment, and the cel-shaded graphics give the game a great graphic novel feel.

Some of the powers you get are just plain cool. There is a great “vampiric grasp” you can learn that, once you level it high enough, you do a Darth Vader like “Force choke” ending with the corpse disintegrating in a puff of purple smoke as it hits the ground. This is great because, if another guard finds the corpse, they will set off an alarm and every nearby hostile will come charging to kill you. Killing alerted guards while the hostile alarm is sounded will give you only a third of the experience of a stealthy, unaware kill so if you want to get stronger you need to stick to the shadows and sneak those kills in.

There is one problem with this that, while not a game breaker, it can be very frustrating – especially in earlier levels while you are still gaining your powers and strength: Melee combat is clumsy! I thought maybe at first it was just me or I needed to adjust some setting on my system but it really wasn’t anything of the kind. When you go in for a sneak attack, you click a single mouse button. Sometimes the sneak attack performs perfectly and you get 60 exp. Sometimes, the enemy randomly gets alerted to the attack and you only get 20-40 points. Other times, you move right in front of the enemy and they completely see you and start attacking and you have to turn around to defend yourself. In corridors or tight walkways, sometimes the camera angle switches to a shot from your crotch up and you can’t tell at all what is going on. Knowing these issues mostly occur in tighter corridors or when you try to feed rather than just attack made it so that I picked my feeding targets more carefully and trained up my toughness and ranged vampiric chokes first. After taking these simple steps I was able to get most of the melee issues minimized, if the game missed an attack I was tough enough to handle them long enough to win the fight. If I saw an enemy in a tight corridor, I would try to use the vampire choke instead of melee. There is the possibility that these issues could get resolved in a future patch as well, so here’s to hoping!

These issues weren’t enough to take me away from marathon sessions of Dark. I still enjoyed playing it, both for the fun challenges and the dark humor throughout the storyline. I’m actually planning on playing through again using a different character build. There are different talents you can learn with small trees to advance down and, in theory, you should be able to play most of the game with hardly any kills. I personally love slaughtering a whole level stealthy, but the idea of using constant shadow and misdirection instead is very appealing too.

Last Call:

I have been excited to get my hands on Dark since I saw it over a year ago. I enjoyed the final experience enough that I am already considering a second play through. Dark is a great take of the vampire mythos and third person stealth genre. Hopefully, the mechanical issues will get resolved so that I can revisit this review and give it a higher score. These issues, for me, weren’t game-breakers but for some they could be. Dark is an enjoyable journey into the shadows where only fangs gleam!

[easyreview title=”Dark Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”3″ ]
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Knights of Pen And Paper +1 Edition Review (PC)

2013/07/09

Ripper71

News, Reviews, Windows PC News, Windows PC Review

It is easy for people to forget that role-playing games owe their popularity to a bunch of guys playing in their basement with character sheets, books fulls of monsters, and a handful of funny-looking dice. Guys like me. You are welcome 😉 . We would spend hours and days and weeks in games, discussing character builds and running dungeons when, at that time, the only way to really “RP” was to stare at the person behind the blind and hope you rolled twenties. Role playing came along early in the world of video gaming. In fact, some of the first games were just words on a screen like, “You are in a dark and dank room with exits to your north and up. What do you do?”. Though this was great and fun, it also signaled a certain loss of camaraderie that the role-playing game was known for. Gone were the cold pizzas, massive doses of caffeine, funny dice and, most importantly, the feeling of sitting around a table with like-minded geeks. For these reasons alone, I was excited to get my hands on Knights of Pen And Paper +1 Edition and remember the old days of tabletop gaming with the feel of early console gaming.

Official Description:

Set out on a grand adventure in this turn-based, retro style, pixel-art RPG, inspired by the great titles of the 90′s. Take on the roles of in-game players taking on the roles of their characters in a traditional pen and paper RPG session in the ultimate meta roleplaying experience.

As both the playing characters AND the game master, players can choose which battles to fight. Put together a bunch of monsters to make for a challenging fight and your efforts will be equally rewarded!

Choose from multiple classes, such as knights and mages, pick your characters to control those classes, like grandma or kid brother, and take on the loads of quests, monsters, items and equipment littered throughout Knights of Pen & Paper +1 Edition. Blacksmiths, enchanters, mining, gathering, hidden treasures and a whole lot more await, giving players a lot of room to personalize their gameplay experience.

Don’t wait any longer, the Pen & Paper world needs you!

Key Features:

The ultimate pen and paper RPG simulation experience
Put together your own role-playing group complete with the game master, the role-players and their respective classes
Fight and explore your way through a perilous fantasy world to defeat the dark mage
Level up and get your hands on more gold to unlock epic items and gear for your party
As the game master, you can set up the fights yourself and choose how many monsters to battle

The +1 Edition includes these all new features:

New dungeons to explore with monsters, traps, treasures, and powerful bosses
The Tavern, a place to stash heroes and switch out party members
More options for characters to implement during battles, adding more depth and variation to fights
Extended campaign filled with lots of new content

Hands On:

I can’t state enough just how much fun it is to play this game and get a taste of the old days of tabletop gaming again. Every time one of the characters piped up with some comment, I thought back to some conversation I had with a buddy in some dimly lit room over my favorite bag of chips and soda, shooting out our noses as we crack each other up with some geek humor. Of course, there were the times of serious role-playing when we were in the middle of a 48 hour-long campaign where we were just trying to keep from all dying, hoping someone had a couple resurrection scrolls to pull us through. Knights of Pen And Paper +1 Edition lets you get snacks and drinks for the “players” as well as decorate the room they are playing in. The creators of Knights of Pen And Paper obviously spent plenty of time around such tables themselves, because they captured the moments beautifully while at the same time making them into fun gameplay moments.

Once you get past the great atmosphere, the gameplay is a fun throwback too – this time, to the early days of console gaming. If you ever played Dragon Warrior on the NES or early Final Fantasy games, you know the type of gameplay I am talking about. MIDI music with pixel-heavy monsters where you decide each turn how best to survive to the next and where best to put your points for your talents. No giant trees of talents like MMORPGs we see now, just a handful of skills to use the best you can with the rest of your group. Choosing your “players” also plays into this because, just like in real life, the better your group works together with their individual styles, the better the fights will go for them. The cute gaming girl gets into the group cheaper, but the obsessed D&D girl helps the team better through knowing the play so well. Sure, having an experienced GM might help you survive the battles better (+ to health), but the comic book store guy knows how much fun it is to level (+ to exp). The game is a “game within a game” but you control all the elements to make it the best play experience possible.

Last Call:

Knights of Pen And Paper +1 Edition is a blast of nostalgia for both pen and paper role-playing games as well as old school console gaming. You can get it at a pretty old school price of $15 for the deluxe edition, making Knights of Pen And Paper +1 a must-play for the dedicated geek.
[easyreview title=”Knights of Pen And Paper +1 Edition Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4″ ]
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X3: Albion Prelude Review (PC/Steam)

2013/07/03

Ripper71

News, Reviews, Windows PC News, Windows PC Review

There was something I didn’t realize about Captain Kirk until recently. As captain of the fictional Starship Entertprise, he had all the responsibility and basically none of the tactile fun. Oh sure he had tactile fun in the bedroom and he was always quick to grab a phaser and head off on an away mission – but, when it came to the Enterprise, he sat in a chair and gave orders. He didn’t get to fire the torpedoes, he didn’t get to take the evasive maneuvers, it was his job to sit there and tell others what to do. As a television director I can relate to this, though I did rotate into other positions so I did get the shot, press the buttons, slide the sliders. Gaming-wise, though, I think X3: Albion Prelude might have been the first to give me the video game connections to the legendary captain.

Official Description:

War! The X universe is undergoing a period of massive change. What started as a conflict of interest between the Earth and the races of the X Universe has now escalated into a full scale war. Play a part in a war scenario bigger than anything the X Universe has ever seen before!

Corporations Compete for Control of the Future. With the war as a backdrop, corporations are vying for power and are driving the X Universe in a new direction. A technological breakthrough will soon allow massive accelerators, forming highways in space and allowing the economy to expand on an unprecedented scale. Highways, a key feature of X Rebirth, are not yet ready, but you can see them being built and participate in the power struggles around the construction of much larger self sustaining economies.

Official Features:

A new plot throws you into the power struggle between corporations at a time of war.
More than 30 new ships and stations
New Stock Exchange feature allows advanced investment strategies
Improved graphics quality setting for high end machines
Improved UI introducing charts to visualize economic developments
Support for head tracking

Hands On:

Space is huge, big, ginormous, and other such words. Being so vast, there is a whole lot of stuff you can do in it. The developers of the “X” series of games always seemed to get that point and, game after game, they try to improve on it by showing how vast it is and how much here is to do in it. It isn’t just flying around and fighting enemies, it is maintaining empires and border relations, it is building and destroying economies, it is as much about who you shake hands with as who you shoot under the table (Han shot first). X3: Albion Prelude is amazing ambitious in scope trying to be a space battle game while also being a strategy game, sim game, and just about any other real time game you can imagine all in one. To further amazement is how successful it is at doing that.

When I first started playing I didn’t realize what I was in for. I was trying to figure out the controls when I saw a ship that appeared red in my sights. Time for my first kill I thought as I opened fire. An alien face appears in my view screen and says that they were here to talk peace, why was I shooting at him? “You were red in my sights” I said to the screen and swung my ship about to continue firing. “I’m making a run for it” the alien says, I assumed at the time to me and off he goes in a much faster ship than mine. I try to give pursuit only to find a whole fleet of ships intercepting me. Really big ships. My turn to run I think right as I explode. I then get an announcement that three alien species have now declared war on us and we are probably doomed. Time to start over and rethink the game I am playing.

Fast forward into gameplay, I’m a nugget out on patrol, having figured out most of the detailed though not very intuitive controls which require me to use the mouse, keyboard and flightstick all at once and I can’t seem to get past a mission. I fly to the sector coordinates I am assigned for a space station defense but no matter what dog fighting tactic I try, and I know a lot, none of them seem to work. Going into menu upon menu I am able to make it so that after I hop through the jump gate into the sector my auto defenses can be set to attack the nearest enemy. So I pop through the jump and sit back in my chair. Like Kirk. I have told my ship to be in defensive maneuvering and to concentrate on the nearest enemies. In other words I have told my crew what to do and it is time for me to sit back and watch. The ship doesn’t engage the target in front of it, my first move most times and instead goes into immediate evasive. It can tell which ship has already engaged me upon jumping into the sector and doesn’t add to my fight but swings around to take the one on my six. I lean on the arm of my chair, fighting to not grab the stick and disengage the auto defense. I’m learning how this enemy fights, how it’s ships maneuver and how many tend to actively engage a single target in the battle. I will be a better captain for it, and I will be able to use the stick and get my hands-on kills but for now I must sit in the chair and watch.

The battle won I head back towards base, my ship on autopilot steering clear of asteroids and space ports, I am monitoring signals from different worlds. One wishes to hire a ship fit for a Queen, which my little fighter is not, I keep it in mind though, considering what upgrades to my freighter back in dock might need to be good enough for royalty. I could use the cash but upgrades can be so pricey just to oxygenate the storage hold yet alone convert it into nice accommodations. All the time I am thinking in real world days and weeks, maybe months, before I might get to own my own space station and rule the stock market.

That is just a small taste of this game, a beginning taste. It is so deep and diverse I am still in shock of how much there is to it. With each version of the X series games they have added on new possibilities, new additions to the economy, new ways to make the world as real as possible. It suits just about any taste of play and if you have a diverse taste it may suit you more than most games you have ever played.

It has its rough points: The controls are hard to get used to although the game is compatible with the Xbox 360 controller and it has crossed my mind to hook one of them up too to try to make it easier. If you take a day or two off from playing in the first couple weeks of playing you will need a refresher, you will wish you had a manual. I still feel fairly unsure on certain aspects of the game controls, with so much to do you would expect a certain degree of this but there must have been a way to streamline the controls a bit better. Also you have to plan your quit times ahead a bit or be prepared to leave your game on when you walk away, saves happen at certain space ports so if you are in a far section of space and it is time to head out for dinner you may find yourself trying to choose between floating in space or making excuses to your dinner mates on why you couldn’t leave right away.

Last Call (For Now):

I’m not done with this game yet – not by a long shot. Who knows, maybe there will be another update on it in the future or continuing their course of always looking forward the team may come out with an expansion or the next X. Now is the time to buy it on Steam though because for $40 you can own the entire X catalog, an incalculable number of hours of play. The only thing that kept me from giving this game the Seal of Excellence were the controls. X3: Albion Prelude is an terrific game that reaches for the stars and makes it.

[easyreview title=”X3: Albion Prelude Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4″ ]

Included in the Steam X: Superbox:

X:Beyond the Frontier 2.2
X:tension 2.2
X2: The Threat 2.5 incl. UPLINK
X3: Reunion 2.5 incl. “Bala Gi`s Research Missions”
X3: Terran Conflict 3.0 incl. “Balance of Power”
Bonus content with installers for Egosoft and fan made add-ons. To access the bonus material, select Library –> Tools –> X-Superbox Bonus Material from your Steam client.
Encyclopedia about the X universe (PDF)
X3 Gold Soundtrack (will be installed together with X3: Terran Conflict)

Dark Matter Beta Preview (PC)

2013/07/02

Ripper71

News, Previews, Windows PC News, Windows PC Preview

I love beta testing. If someone paid me to do it, it would probably be my perfect job. I dream of being the guy in “Grandma’s Boy” who finds all the bugs on levels 5 through 10, then plays a blistering competitive game for lunch. So far, it has not been in the cards for me. However, when I can get into a game’s beta test and start not only helping to note bugs and problem areas but, also, helping give an indie game a fighting chance, I dive at the chance. That is definitely the case with Dark Matter, a title that is currently looking for crowd funding to reach a refined state for public consumption. Here are the details of what they say needs fixing and my notes on what I think needs to get fixed to make a currently “okay” game a into a good one.

Official List of Current Issues with Beta

Current Issues – Kickstarter campaign funding will allow InterWave to correct/polish these known issues with the Preview Beta build:

· Biggest Issue: The game needs final polish.

· In addition, Dark Matter can become too difficult which can lead to frustration.

· To improve this, InterWave will use the funding from Kickstarter to improve the following key areas. This will take two months of additional development/refinement and then they will be able to launch Dark Matter:

o Improving weapons balancing

o Increasing aiming refinement

o Improving uneven level pacing

o Levels after the 14th (after killing the alien queen) are not ready yet

o Completion debugging process.

o Refinement of Enemy AI

· Better communication/information providing to players.

Hands On:

Dark Matter is a side scrolling shooter with puzzle solving elements set in a space ship under attack by alien invaders – a good old fashion “bug hunt”. Your primary weapon is a pistol, which recharges to reload and has limitless ammo. Additional weapons can be found along with add-ons, but the game requires crafting of ammo and upgrades. These crafting supplies are scavenged and dropped by enemies when killed. As you work along the dark interiors of the space ship, you might find a blown fuse you have to replace in order to open a door. Or, you may have to figure out how to cross a room full of alien bear traps – figuring these out keeps the game from being just all “run and gun” and let’s players use their brains as well as their bullets. The game is only savable at save/respawn station, as is crafting at crafting stations. The game is fun and playable now in beta form but really could do with some polish.

The fix list above is pretty accurate as to the issues encountered that need attention for a polished version of the game to reach players hands. I purposely tested the game before consulting the list to find out how much my experience matched what they said needed work. I only had a couple of collision errors and was able to “unstick” myself from the walls when it happened with just a bit of jumping around. The pistol packs just about as much punch as the shotgun without the need to craft or manage ammo. So, you can fire along your merry way, shooting at the edge of the screen where, if you listen, you can hear when you hit an enemy and keep them off screen and unable to strike. This is vital because, once they are on the screen, you may be a crack shot or even use a laser sight – you will still miss like a Stormtrooper. The laser sight would be improved with an actual dot at target but a shot at an alien bug doesn’t guarantee hitting it anyways as hitboxes needs fleshing out.

Level pacing seemed fine – areas without as many enemies build suspense, loaded levels build adrenaline. Puzzles were fairly easy to solve with the biggest challenge usually being the obstacles of enemies and winding corridors rather than thought process. Enemy AI seemed alright, but maybe a slight bit dumbed down. This extra dumbing down did help with the aiming issues, keeping the game from getting too frustrating. Overall, aiming and hitboxes are the biggest re-occurring issues. Solving those two issues will increase the fun and decrease the frustration extremely – probably more than any other issues currently in the game.

Also, the game needs a finish – it doesn’t have to have closure. Heck, it could even say stay tuned for Dark Matter 2: Darker Matter – it needs something. Also, the game experience could do with a bit more variety in the aliens you will fight.

First Round:

That is basically where the game is: Someone looking to play a final version of it will need to wait for it to, hopefully, complete its Kickstarter campaign. This is definitely not one of the projects that is trying to just get funding to cover already incurred costs – it needs some work and right where the company claims it does. It is a fun game that could frustrating without some polishing, so let’s hope it gets it so everyone can get a chance to play it!