Review: BattleBlock Theater

The wait is finally over. The Behemoth's follow-up to Castle Crashers has been released on Xbox Live Arcade (for now, hopefully it sees release on other platforms in the future) and it starts like this..

"Once there was a boat..."

And so a humorous narration of your character's short tale thus far begins. It won me over before I even knew the controls.

Once I did know the controls, I had a great time. The story and its delivery combined with fluid and fun platforming action made an addictive combo.

Just another day in BattleBlock Theater. (Photo credit: http://www.battleblocktheater.com)

Gameplay: If you have any experience with the platforming genre then you know what you are in for from a game-play standpoint. Namely jumping a ton and making your way through obstacles.

Aside from that there is a heavy collectible element to the game as it allows you to unlock new looks for you character as well as new weapons and tools used in the game.

These weapons and tools are of use for dealing with enemy cats in single player (it's a weird story) and then opposing teams in multiplayer.

Multiplayer: Speaking of multiplayer, this is where things get (more) interesting. There are a number of game modes. One of them, for example, is a basketball type mode where two teams battle for possession of a ball and attempt to throw it in the opposing teams net for points. Whoever has the most points after time runs out, wins.

I convinced a friend to purchase the game (our very own Cody Steeves) and after he played the solo story mode and got used to the game, we proceeded to play some multiplayer. First up was the co-op story mode.

Co-op play is much like single player but with added wrinkles like your partner crossing a bridge that is appears when you stand on a certain spot and having them reach over to pull you up after you make a leap with no bridge (since there is nobody to stand in the spot that makes it appear) and other teamwork type things.

We got off to a bad start but we figured out how co-op works quickly enough and became a pretty good team. I killed him with some badly timed fireballs (*cough* one or two on purpose) and he knocked me off of ledges now and then but other than that we did pretty well.

Eventually we got a little competitive and hit up the game mode known as Muckle (think death-match). We won more than we lost in that mode. We also had a cool team kill where I set some dude on fire and then Cody blew him into his teammate, which set his teammate on fire as well. Moments like that are when the game is at it's best. The mode plays a little like a simplified Super Smash Bros.

We then moved on to Challenge mode. This mode is all about getting through levels and trying to do it faster than the other team. At first we didn't do so well. We got stuck when we ran into a cat that threw fireballs and we displayed a comic amount of confusion in the process. That gave us a horrible time somewhere north of three minutes for the level. The good news is the other team only beat us by 20 seconds or so.

Other games modes include King of the Hill, Horse (ride a horse to team stables), Colour the World (think Tony Hawk Pro Skater's Graffiti mode) and others.

There is also the ability to trade items in multiplayer. This consists of going into a trading booth with another person and viewing their inventory, selecting what you would like and coming to agreement. You can trade prisoners, weapons/tools, gems and wool (currency). In my first trade a cool dude gave me something like 20 wool for free, which meant I was able to buy some new weapons at five wool each. Yay.

Music: The soundtrack is great, in fact I found myself wanting to hear the music more often. I even just left the game at the main menu for a few minutes a couple times to hear the music.

Not being a huge player of platforming titles these days I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy BattleBlock Theater, but between the gameplay, art style, narration, soundtrack and suite of multi-player modes I found a game I will be playing a lot of. Off to Challenge mode now.

Opinion: Why the next-gen rumour mill grinds my gears

Totally plausible.....
(Credit:http://www.stack.com)

Every 5-8 years the leading console platforms get ready to release a new system. While they slowly build up anticipation, the rumour mills slowly start turning.

The amount of rumours and what they say normally build up more hype than the actual press releases do. The rumours are ridiculous as well; everything from the consoles being on the same level as a $4000 computer to supporting games and video files for the previous systems.

The only way to get around these rumours is to keep an open mind on what you are hearing. It is highly doubtful the new XBox will contain a system that is more powerful than a $4000 gaming PC that can run the most graphically enhanced games. 

Reselling that console for $500 doesn't make any economical sense. Stay rational with your expectations, otherwise when the companies do release the actual specs, you may be sorely disappointed.

All of the "blueprints" being released annoy me as well. 

Most of them look as if they have been made in Photoshop and carry no real measurements or price points. I remember seeing a blueprint that would have made the console a foot and a half wide and 2 feet tall and that is with everything being stack upon itself inside, resulting in a cooling and overheating problem.

One of the many schematics that were "leaked"

I think the only way to avoid these rumours from starting is for the companies to release the actual schematics and console specs as soon as possible. I doubt that would ever happen though. 

I mean, what better publicity than a bunch of rumours that are ridiculous and absurd?

What console/platform do you game on? Which system will you upgrade to?

Opinion: "Get a grip" - Tactical Haptics could be part of the VR gaming we imagined as kids

Yeah... how awesome would this be? (Photo Credit: Fantastic Fiction)

I remember reading Rodomonte's Revenge by Gary Paulsen as a kid and thinking that a fully immersive game environment would be incredibly fun.

When Nintendo initially announced the Wii, I understood (perhaps reluctantly) that, despite the excitement instilled in me by Paulsen, I wasn't going to be fighting giant alien house flies while wearing a blast shield anytime soon.

Even so, the idea of having motion controls felt like a step in the right direction.

Alas, while the Wii did do some interesting things for the world of motion control, it really never felt like I was there. Without force feedback of any kind, swinging a sword didn't really feel any different from waving a conductor's baton. Likewise, pointing a remote at the screen mostly felt like... pointing a remote at the screen. It sure didn't feel like a weapon.

Ultimately, the game I spent the most time playing on Wii had no motion control features at all.

(Photo Credit: Tactical Haptics)

Enter Tactical Haptics. The company is working to commercialize technology developed at the University of Utah's Haptics and Embedded Mechatronics Laboratory.

Their design uses a Razer Hydra as the base, and adds in feedback in the palm through sliding sections which  can simulate the recoil of a firearm or the resistance of a blade as it strikes something.

In essence, it makes you feel the result of your actions, instead of just seeing it.

I'm not an expert on haptics or even on the technology used in the Razer Hydra, but the end result looks very interesting. I recommend taking the time to check out the video on Tactical Haptics' website. It states that the technology could be compatible with existing console motion detection... but my favourite part?

"This technology... could also make a formidable pairing with a head-mounted display for unprecedented levels of immersion and realism in a virtual reality environment."

With the Oculus Rift (another one of my eagerly-awaited technologies) on the horizon, we could make Paulsen proud sooner than we thought.

Twitch gamer accused of faking disability

A prominent Twitch.tv gamer has been accused of faking a disability in order to amass donations.

Streamer ZilianOP, whose real name is Angel Hamilton, had been streaming gameplay from Twitch under the pretense that he required the use of a wheelchair.

He had asked for donations based on wheelchair-related expenses previously, and according to Kotaku he had appeared in a video where he discussed the benefits of being in a wheelchair. The video has since been removed from YouTube.

The perception from the Twitch community was that Hamilton was entirely disabled. When, on April 5th, Hamilton suddenly stood up from his wheelchair before walking off-camera, people were understandably confused and angered.

Twitch has condemned the actions of both Hamilton and his girlfriend. As of the time of this writing, both Hamilton's Twitch account and his girlfriend's have been closed by Twitch. They have said that Hamilton's actions violated the terms of service and were a "slap in the face" to gamers with disabilities.

The Twitch broadcaster, Zilianop, did indeed have his channel closed and his partnership contract terminated on the basis of fraud. Moving forward, we'll be offering refunds to those who subscribed to his channel through Twitch. We have zero tolerance for this type of behavior and the character demonstrated in this situation is truly reprehensible. His actions are a huge slap in the face to Twitch community members with real disabilities such as Aieron, and groups such as AbleGamers, who have helped spread a message of inclusiveness and positivity to not only the Twitch community, but gaming as a whole.

A Reddit thread about the event claims that Hamilton received over $8,000 in donations, though this number has yet to be confirmed by Twitch.

It should be noted that, as far as we know, Hamilton has never said that he is confined to a wheelchair, though it is fair to say that he implied it. It is important to consider the possibility that Hamilton is capable of some limited mobility, despite normally requiring the use of a wheelchair for day-to-day activities.

There has been no response from Hamilton as of the time of this writing. If the story develops, DarkPixel will update you accordingly.

Review: Devil May Cry

(Credit:http://www.invisioncommunity.co.uk)

The newest addition to the series that follows Dante; a demon hunter and demon spawn. This is a reimagining of the first game of the series that boasts impressive graphics and a new take on the characters, but falls short in the actual gameplay.

Overview:

This game is the epitome of the Devil May Cry series. It has sex, demons, gore, rivalries and it is overall grotesque. The protagonist of this game is the posterboy of the series, Dante and you get to meet with major characters such as Vergil and Kat.

In-depth

Graphics:

The graphics in this particular game are very nice, I played on the PC version so I am not sure how it looks to console users, but the lighting and texture filtering are well made and the little details in the demons are nice aspects. The whole game has a very doom and gloom artwork around it even when taking place in busy areas such as cities and factories. This style of artwork has always had a place in this gamer’s heart and they were able to take the normal everyday life of a city and destroy it in Limbo.

Combat:

The fighting mechanics are flashy and every single weapon can be linked together but even then some mechanics seem broken. The “grading” system the series has adopted also went from ridiculously hard in Devil May Cry 4 to the current “let’s mash all of the buttons together to get a new high score.”  In all seriousness the grading system makes you feel simplistic and doing really awesome combos aren’t worthwhile when you can get the same score with half the buttons.

Story:

What the game’s short story does offer though is strength.If you have ever done any research or played this series there is nothing more satisfactory than the final fight. Compared to other installments of the series I also really enjoyed all of the mini bosses, some fights were annoying including the spawn of Mundus fight where half the animations seemed choppy and out of place, but overall the levels were enjoyable. My only complaints are that the storyline is very short how the series remains linear. I completed my first playthrough after only 6 hours and with half the secrets unlocked. I couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed.

The game itself has a plot very similar to the first game, even including the original antagonist.

The storyline is still the same linear script and story expected from this series (Insert sarcasm). Seriously, this game plays as any arcade game, you hit as many demons as you can while you follow the straight line that is the plot. The only redeeming quality is that you get to hit them with some cool objects, including a scythe but even that has been done before (Ahem, Dante’s Inferno).

Characters:

With the re-release Dante comes with a new look, no longer sporting his white hair he now looks more like your average everyday rocker even sporting the ripped jeans and mouldy longcoat. No character sports their old looks. Vergil is no different, he keeps his blueish white hair, but it better fits your grandfather and his bowler hat from the closet.

The script of this game feels forced. Not the nostalgic scripts that gamers expect from both Devil May Cry and Capcom.

The single curse word sentences threw me off. Some of it has meaning but a vast majority of it feels very forced.

The demons in this game are gross and I mean this in the best possible way. You have to fight a succubus. The kind of demon meant to seduce, that I am sure no man in their right mind would ever touch, I mean look at those rolls!

Pros:

-Flashy combat

-New weapons

-Appealing graphics

-Storyline stays true to the original series.

-The demons!

Cons:

-Weak combo-grading system

-Linear storyline

-You are dressed as a bum and your brother looks like your grandfather

-Short storyline

-Forced script

Final opinion:

This game was fairly well done, but for how much anticipation they had built up, I feel it just didn’t deliver. However if you are a fan of the series I do recommend adding this game to your collection. It is a breath of fresh air in some areas, the weapons are entertaining, the graphics are appealing to the eye and it stuck true to the original. If you haven’t played the other games, enter this game with an open mind.

Game Cover
(credit: http://devilmaycry.wikia.com)

What are your thoughts on Dante and Vergil’s new looks? Can they work their new styles? Or should the looks have stayed in the past?

Review: Tomb Raider (2013)

(Photo Credit: Digital Spy)

The most iconic female character in video game history, Lara Croft hasn’t had the best of times lately. Her misadventures in the Angel of Darkness released back in 2003 was a critical failure.

The fearless archaeologist disappeared until Crystal Dynamics released Tomb Raider: Legends in 2006 which put her back on gamers' radars. Now Lara is back in her (chronologically) first adventure and she’s better than ever in this reboot aptly titled Tomb Raider.

The game starts with Lara and her friends on an expedition to find the lost kingdom of Yamati. Their boat, the Endurance, encounters a freak storm and the crew wakes up stranded on an island with ruthless savages.

This is not the T rated Tomb Raider you’re used to. Crystal Dynamics took a very dark and mature turn with this game. Lara is beaten, choked, bashed around and slammed down.

You think you're having a bad day? Try seeing your friends dying, being punched by a buffed up guy, crawling away then falling down a water fall.

This is an M rated game all the way and that’s why it packs an emotional punch. You feel for Laura, and with that investment you want to play more and more.

Tomb Raider is linear for the first hour or two, but then opens up to a non-linear and beautiful island to explore.

The controls are some of the best I've experienced in a long time. They feel slick and you never battle with any of the buttons: it makes jumping, covering, shooting and climbing easy and fun.

Yes, you will think of Uncharted while playing Tomb Raider. The controls are basically the same, except Lara controls more fluidly then Nathan Drake.

This game has a lot to offer in terms of gameplay. You have the standard leveling up your weapons, your moves, your health with the experience points you earn by finding lost journal papers from your crew that are scattered around the levels, shooting enemies, finding artifacts, investigating them and raiding the optional tombs where you have to solve a mind bending puzzle to get a special reward.

You never feel as though your back tracking or playing the same level over and over again. One part of the island could be a mountain where you're trying to sneak around undetected, and the next you're hanging high up from an abandoned gondola lift.

(Photo Credit: GamerGuides)

As you progress through the game you actually feel like Lara is getting stronger and her character is evolving; not just physically, but mentally as well.

Lara starts out as a scared, nervous girl who is confused and helpless, but then by the end of the game she’s one of the most badass female characters we have seen in a while.

The main story is surprisingly long, clocking in at 15 hours for just the single player campaign to complete everything. Getting the 100 per cent achievement is probably going to take you a good 20 hours.

The voice acting for Lara is top notch. Camilla Luddington's performance enchants the player into believing this is a real human being. Her mannerisms, tone and even screams when the player fails to hit the right button during a quick time event feel real and authentic.

The same can’t be said for everyone else joining Lara. They are cookie-cutter characters with unbelievable dialogue and clichés we have seen in every other adventure game. The skinny guy with glasses that knows everything, the strong tribal tattooed cook and the best friend who gets captured are all present. But Lara’s character is so well acted and well written that it’s easy to forgive and overlook.

The online mode? Well it’s there, but that’s all I can say that’s semi-decent about it. The game is like every other online third person action game: kill, earn XP and repeat. You have your standard team deathmatch mode. There's Rescue, which is basically capture the flag mode with med packs as the flags. Cry for Help pits the survivors of the Endurance against the other team, with the survivors trying to activate a radio transmitter  The ubiquitous free-for-all  rounds out the available game modes.

(Photo Credit: Game Rant)

Nothing new and nothing original, and when playing online you get bored pretty quick. Some of the maps let you plant traps, but that’s as interesting as it gets. You level up after each round of play and the higher your level, the more guns and grenades you unlock as well as characters.

Character unlocking is just frustrating right at the start, because you really have no characters that are worth playing and you can’t even play as Lara, the star of the game, until you reach level 60. I am an achievement whore and I couldn’t even force myself to play to level 60. If I did, I would have jumped out the window due to the repeating maps, the dry game play and just uninspired online level design.

Tomb Raider is a great game and a surprise to me. I felt emotionally connected to the character. I was astounded and astonished by the beautiful graphics ranging from the intense sunlight shining on the island to the dirt and blood on Lara’s skin. The multiplayer we could have done without, and you probably will play it once then go back to the addictive single player.

This game is a possible contender for Game of the Year so far. There is just one question I pose to Crystal Dynamics: how the hell are you guys going to top this with a sequel?

A survivor is born and hopefully a great game franchise.

Welcome back Lara.

Review: Civilization V: Gods and Kings

Photo Credit: Gamechurch.com

So the recent sale on Steam finally pushed me over the edge on purchasing the first expansion for Civilization V.

When something is 75 percent off, I find it difficult to say "no". That, and I had some PayPal credit that I was too lazy to move over to my "real" bank account.

I realize this is not exactly a passionate introduction to my reasons for purchasing it. And if I seem hesitant, it's because I am.

I really liked Civilization V's initial offerings, but like many people I thought that the series seemed to be slumping into the same pattern: an initial release with fewer features, and then expansions offering features that had been baseline in prior versions of the game.

Sure, the game had the same old feeling of "one more turn" and the revamped combat system in Civ V was, in my eyes, a welcome addition. But the initial offering felt somehow hollow, or less-featured, than other initial entries in the series.

If you think I'm being harsh on Civ V, don't worry: this expansion isn't getting off scot-free either, because it attempts to implement one of my favourite Civ IV features, religion.

Is Gods and Kings divinely inspired, or is regicide in order? Let's take a look.

Are you a bad enough dude to... build Christianity? (Photo Credit: Kotaku)

Faith

The main addition to the game is the Faith system. Faith is a sort of alternate currency, which allows you to found a religion, improve that religion, and buy some units and buildings.

Faith is generated by some buildings as well as some Natural Wonders, and when you found a religion you can choose other ways to generate it. For example, you can make desert squares generate it when you found your religion.

Faith never really feels like a mandatory part of the game, but a strong religion can have strong implications for your civilization. During my time with the game, I used my civ's religion and geographical position to generate faith and translated that directly into Great Person generation.

The bonuses that your faith confers only work in cities that are actively practicing it - and this is by no means a guarantee, especially if your neighbour is a spiritual powerhouse.

Your religion can be spread by missionaries, which are purchased with Faith. You can also purge all other religions in a city by building an inquisitor.

One thing to keep in mind is that your missionaries and inquisitors are not necessarily aligned to your civ’s religion, but rather to the majority religion of the city that they were purchased in.

I made this mistake after an enemy’s great prophet got their Tengriism in my Islam, and I wanted to make sure the enemy’s heretics were kicked out. Since the city had just converted to Tengriism, I ended up scaring away my own faithful instead. Whoops.

Faith integrates pretty well with other structures already in the game, like social policies. When you select social policies, they unlock the ability to purchase different Great People, depending on the policy.

In addition, the previously-confused Piety policy tree has been updated with some faith-enhancing selections.

New Units

Gods and Kings adds new units throughout, but I thought the best improvement was the addition of early 20th century units, preventing the awkward leap from Rifleman straight to modern Infantry.

The new units represent infantry, armor and air power during World War I. They are a useful stopgap. I particularly liked the landship (the early Tank unit), and thought that it was both a fun and flavourful addition to the game.

The landship will have you setting sail for World War I.

New Civilizations

The expansion adds Austria, Byzantines, Carthage, Celts, Ethiopia, Huns, Maya, Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden.

I haven’t played all of them, but a lot of the civs had abilities that seemed pretty situational, if still very flavourful.

I would like to point out that Austria’s ability in particular has the potential to change the game dramatically.

Austria’s ability lets them “marry” city-states into their civ after they have been allies for at least six turns by spending some gold. This is not considered an invasion, and as such does not affect your image in the eyes of other city-states.

Running a heavily economy-based Austria is a unique way to play the game, and I’d encourage long-time fans of the series to try it.

Our civilization needs more coffee. Our workers aren't productive until after lunch.

Plus, they can build a coffee house. What other encouragement do you need?

City-State changes

The expansion adds two new city-state types and a variety of new quests offered by city-states during the course of the game.

I especially liked the addition of 30-turn “who can generate the most x” quests. Unsurprisingly, cultural states will want you to generate culture, etc.

In addition to rewarding civs that are trying to specialize in one or two areas, these quests give you a good idea of who else is competing with you in certain arenas because if you lose, you get to find out who won the competition.

Multiplayer

Here’s the downfall.

The multiplayer in this game is incredibly buggy. There are plenty of threads devoted to the strange issued encountered during multiplayer games, including random disconnects and inability to load saved multiplayer games.

Firaxis said almost nothing about these issues, and despite rumours of a much-awaited “multiplayer patch”, there has been no such thing. There hasn’t even been confirmation of one.

Basically, if you were going to buy this game for the multiplayer only, you may want to rethink it.

Now, you could get lucky and have completely smooth multiplayer sailing... I just wouldn’t count on it.

Conclusion

Gods and Kings adds a lot to the game, and I really enjoy what it does add. However, with multiplayer in its current state, I can’t recommend that you get this expansion if that were your only intention when playing it. 

Have you bought Gods and Kings? What did you think of it?