I'm currently working on the review, so don't want to get sidetracked.
In short though? I agree that the shooting mechanics are the best of the series. It plays as well as almost any third person shooter.
My issues with it are going to stem mainly from writing and the decisions of the people in charge.
Transformers Fall Of Cybetron.
Awesome game!
Its a great tps with tons of weapons ,great story ,big areas.
The last mission was pretty short but it was well done .
2 things that bothers me that wave mode is only online and that you cant choose characters before chapters.
I would recomend it to anyone especially Transformers fans.
9,5/10
Dark Spark was the 1st 360 TF game I played and it made me want to play War For Cybertron and Fall Of Cybertron.
It does feel crappy compared to FOC however.
Anyways gonna beat WFC next wanted to play them in order but seeding is pretty crappy for it and I couldnt wait like 4 days so started with the other one instead.srug
Shadow Warrior
Platforms: PC (reviewed), Xbox One, PS4 (Xbox one and ps4 versions drop in September this year)
Release Date PC: September 26 2013. Xbox One & Ps4 September 2014
Genre: Fps/1st person hack n slash
Shadow Warrior is a game that slipped under most people's radar it came out without a lot of hype behind it, and was made by an indie studio without many games and published by the folks who were behind Hotline Miami. Really it only got the attention of people who played the original game and not much more. If you passed this up last year, you really should go buy it as it was my game of the year for 2013 and definitely my favorite within the first person genres.
Minor Spoilers ahead
Story: The game follows an Assassin/Gang enforcer named Lo Wang who has a job to get some sword for his boss, through a simple business trade if possible and through force if not. When the deal falls through it quickly turns to a fight with him versus the entire temple, ending up with him captured and more details about the sword revealed. He breaks free of his captors and ends up bonded with a demon named Hoji as the two travel across Earth and the spirit plane to collect the rest of the sword and stop a demonic invasion/get back to his boss.
From a pure narrative standpoint Shadow Warrior is mostly mediocre a mostly standard the world is under attack so the hero must fight his way through and save it/restore things. There are a few shining exceptions though each time you are about to face a boss you have to destroy a golem that contains their memory in order to warp to them. When you do you are shown a beautifully drawn graphic novel sequence detailing the bosses origin, they are narrated well and very well written while being just the right length and spread out far enough to not overstay their welcome. Another good point is that it doesn't bog you down with needless scenes and exposition like many other games with similar plots, you learn what you need to know as you need it and it never slows down your progress or action.
The true strength of the story however are the characters. Lo Wang and Hoji are some of the best characters of recent years. With Lo Wang a comic book and action movie obsessed anti hero who spends half the game making up one liners on the spot, and even stopping to do things he feels make him seem cool like shaving his head. There are even points in the games where he sings You've got the touch, and Eye of the tiger. He's an all around funny dude, who likes making jokes about his own name and feeling like a badass.
Hoji is basically a troll, spending half the game mocking Lo Wang and tricking him into setting himself up for jokes as well as poking fun at genre conventions in the kind of story they are in. He spends alot of time shit talking the enemies as well, and both him and Wang really are able to convey the sort of things gamers feel at a tough boss or when they pull off an epic move with plenty of cursing and thrashing the competition. That said he can be really sinister as well as dramatic when need be, and the final scene with him may be on the greatest monologues in gaming.
The other demon bosses are all very well voice acted and have very distinct personalities portrayed both in their actions and the graphic novel styled origin stories, which are always narrated by them. Despite never being with them for all that long you get a really feel for their character as well as who they were before, and why they are how they are currently. It really helps flesh out the setting a lot even if you don't truly get to see them often. There are a few human characters as well such as some twin female assassins and your boss, each of them is interesting in their own right and has some good dialogue/scenes where they play off of Lo Wang but I feel they could have benefited from a little more direct screen time or at least an origin in the same way the bosses got.
Over all I'd say an average story with great characters and some of the best dialogue in gaming, making the times not fighting well worth it.
Visuals: The Visuals are sort of a mixed bag, mostly because the human models aren't all that great and the few times you see Lo Wang's whole body it not always being that clear. They are an indie studio so I won't be too harsh on them, but it does stand out since the Environments are sometimes gorgeous with a nice colorful array of locales and diverse textures making every area feel very unique and well designed. The effects and animations are top notch, from the great looking Tarantino styled blood sprays to the very real feeling enemy movements. You can shoot and slice off limbs and the enemies react accordingly, the tougher enemies slowly show damage as you wear them down, and the bosses show light looking through from the bullets holes you put in their armor as you fire (or if you use the bow you can literally cover them with arrows). Great Effects, environments, and animations held slightly back by dated models.
Sound: As mentioned before the voice work is stellar, everyone delivers and a fantastic performance and without such great voice acting much of the dialogue wouldn't have really worked as well as it does, especially not the comedy segments. The music is good but not great, I found it supporting the actions well but not good enough to make me want the soundtrack though a few tracks do stand out as worth at least a second listen. The sound effects are excellent, every gun feels powerful as you fire off and you can hear the arrows lodge into bodies and the shurikens cut through the air. The sword sounds like you would expect it to sound, each slash slicing air and the visceral sound of flesh being cut as well as the satisfying clang of metal when striking another weapon. I'm not a super sound snob so I can't give an expert opinion but I thought the sound was great over all with the music simply good.
Gameplay: It supports both mouse and keyboard as well as gamepad, both work great with the controller offering a bit more ease of the control while the mouse and keyboard offering more precision and control. Moving is sharp and works just fine, I never felt I was robbed out of a dodge or the game cheated me when I tried to jump over something, if I timed it I would do it. If you are good enough you could never get hit by an enemy the movement controls work that well.
The gunplay works as well as any good fps with the ability to dodge and running around quickly always keeping you mobile. There really aren't many areas where you can take cover, instead you gaining chi abilities where with a quick key combo you can block projectiles or heal yourself making a nice compromise and keeping with the mystical theme. There are a solid variety of guns ranging from a simple magnum to rocket launcher, smgs, four barreled shotguns, flame throwers, and grenade mounted crossbows. Each of these can be upgraded with an in game currency gaining secondary effects as well as simply becoming stronger. With the upgrade system each guns stays viable the entire game so much that in later fights I found myself switching to the early guns and pulling through due to their specific advantages. Ammo is pretty plentiful outside of the rocket launcher so you never really have to worry about conserving your ammo. Firing them feels great with each having the appropriate recoil and very visible effects on the enemies they hit. You are even capable of using your healing spell while firing your gun, if you are ok with the slight perspective change.
While the gunplay is cool the game is all about the sword which is controlled with other the triggers or the two mouse buttons. One trigger does a quick swing the other a slower more powerful one that can be charged, you control the specific direction with the analog or mouse and you control which way you pull the sword with your movement buttons. There is no block button which seems weird at first but the game is all about making you feel like a badass modern samurai so instead of blocking you have to time your swing right to parry or dodge past and take advantage of the opening. The sword play is damn near perfect, the angles and movement always went where I wanted even when using the quick slashes and you have unlockable chi moves that allow new avenues of attack with a quick and simple combos. The sword is your great asset as you can easily hack through enemies if you are skilled at the game, every slice cutting right through limbs and throats of lesser enemies and slowly tearing at away at the body of the tougher foes. The sword isn't a simple button press and do a thousand combos either, it has real weight to it if you swing hard you have to go through with it, if you swing quick you have to actually follow up in the right direction. Hit a durable foe and your sword recoils back, hit flesh and you feel it go through. The combination of sound design and animation go perfectly with a great sense of control. By the end of the game I truly did feel like a sword master and I didn't need cut scenes or dialogue to tell me that, as I ran down the path to the final boss literally cutting hordes of enemies to pieces without taking damage (this wasn't a scripted scene, your sword really tears people a part as you get better at the game and further into it) to the point where you can take the final boss who is much larger then you in a legit sword fight, with no qtes or bs just flat out aiming right and being good, the sword slowly hacking through his armor (and showing the marks)
From spinning around and slicing 12 heads off with a single blow, to sending giants flying with a single sword thrust all in raw un-scripted gameplay. Shadow Warrior delivers the best 1st person melee I've ever played and maybe the best sword fighting in any perspective.
Shadow Warrior gets a 9/10 from me, only held back by some slightly outdated character models and a narrative that doesn't fully match the great characters and dialogue within. If you play this game you will leaving feeling like a sword master through pure real time gameplay alone and not lengthy hands free animations or cut scenes, something that many games struggle with really conveying.
Darksiders 2
My 5th playthrough...haermm
It has a cool story not the best but its definetly well done.
Its a hack n slash third person action ,adventure ,rpg game.
The combat is as good as in any other games the cool thing is that you can create your own unique weapons with powers like critical damage,life drain,mana drain,different elemental damages and many more.
Tons of weapons to choose from scythes ,gauntles,hooks,claws,glaves,hammers,maces.....
You get to choose between 2 different power sets warrior and necromancer each has different powers like teleportation,changing into reaper,summoning ghouls ,crows or shields.
What makes it better then other hack n slash games is that it has awesome and enjoyable puzzles and it takes place in an open world where you can play side missions if you want to.There are only like 10 but its nice that you can take a break from the story and explore a bit it also has an arena mode which offers you tons of extra reward weapons.
Depending on which path you choose you can also get your own unique warrior ,necromancer or vanguard(gives boost to both strengh and arcane) armors.
After beating the game you get to choose new game plus however you can only do this once which is pretty sad.
Visually its not the best game out there but it has cool comic style characters.
Its still one of my favorite games of all time.
10/10
I just tried the free online MMO Yugioh BAM, and I have to say that at first I wasn't digging it. The original rules are pretty much thrown out the window on this one, but as I continued to play, and got used to the new rules, I must say that this one has its charm. The original game has 5 places to lay monster cards, and 5 to lay down spell/trap cards, with 2 off field spots. 1 to lay down a field bonus card, and 1 to lay down a side deck, if I recall correctly.
Yugioh BAM only use 3 slots to place your monster cards, and 3 to place spell/trap cards which are both regarded as spell cards. The Monsters themselves are all over the place in terms of power. No longer is the Blue Eyes White Dragon or the other famous cards the kings of the decks, you may find cards out there that far surpass the famed cards of the past. There are tourneys, and arena matches that you can play on a daily basis, you can friend other players, and send them gifts as well. There is a map that you progress through. As you make progress, the games difficulty curve spikes to the point that many faint of heart duelist may just give up. However, you can tweak your deck because as you go along you can buy cards or win them during your duels.
Overall for a free game this one hits the spot, and I have been trying several of the free games out there. This one was the best. So if anyone would like to try it out, this is the URL
http://www.kongregate.com/games/konamikg/yugioh-bam
Hope you enjoy.
Oh and I give this game a solid 9 out of 10.
Originally posted by Lek Kuen
[b]Sound: As mentioned before the voice work is stellar, everyone delivers and a fantastic performance and without such great voice acting much of the dialogue wouldn't have really worked as well as it does, especially not the comedy segments. The music is good but not great, I found it supporting the actions well but not good enough to make me want the soundtrack though a few tracks do stand out as worth at least a second listen. The sound effects are excellent, every gun feels powerful as you fire off and you can hear the arrows lodge into bodies and the shurikens cut through the air. The sword sounds like you would expect it to sound, each slash slicing air and the visceral sound of flesh being cut as well as the satisfying clang of metal when striking another weapon. I'm not a super sound snob so I can't give an expert opinion but I thought the sound was great over all with the music simply good.Gameplay: It supports both mouse and keyboard as well as gamepad, both work great with the controller offering a bit more ease of the control while the mouse and keyboard offering more precision and control. Moving is sharp and works just fine, I never felt I was robbed out of a dodge or the game cheated me when I tried to jump over something, if I timed it I would do it. If you are good enough you could never get hit by an enemy the movement controls work that well.
The gunplay works as well as any good fps with the ability to dodge and running around quickly always keeping you mobile. There really aren't many areas where you can take cover, instead you gaining chi abilities where with a quick key combo you can block projectiles or heal yourself making a nice compromise and keeping with the mystical theme. There are a solid variety of guns ranging from a simple magnum to rocket launcher, smgs, four barreled shotguns, flame throwers, and grenade mounted crossbows. Each of these can be upgraded with an in game currency gaining secondary effects as well as simply becoming stronger. With the upgrade system each guns stays viable the entire game so much that in later fights I found myself switching to the early guns and pulling through due to their specific advantages. Ammo is pretty plentiful outside of the rocket launcher so you never really have to worry about conserving your ammo. Firing them feels great with each having the appropriate recoil and very visible effects on the enemies they hit. You are even capable of using your healing spell while firing your gun, if you are ok with the slight perspective change.
While the gunplay is cool the game is all about the sword which is controlled with other the triggers or the two mouse buttons. One trigger does a quick swing the other a slower more powerful one that can be charged, you control the specific direction with the analog or mouse and you control which way you pull the sword with your movement buttons. There is no block button which seems weird at first but the game is all about making you feel like a badass modern samurai so instead of blocking you have to time your swing right to parry or dodge past and take advantage of the opening. The sword play is damn near perfect, the angles and movement always went where I wanted even when using the quick slashes and you have unlockable chi moves that allow new avenues of attack with a quick and simple combos. The sword is your great asset as you can easily hack through enemies if you are skilled at the game, every slice cutting right through limbs and throats of lesser enemies and slowly tearing at away at the body of the tougher foes. The sword isn't a simple button press and do a thousand combos either, it has real weight to it if you swing hard you have to go through with it, if you swing quick you have to actually follow up in the right direction. Hit a durable foe and your sword recoils back, hit flesh and you feel it go through. The combination of sound design and animation go perfectly with a great sense of control. By the end of the game I truly did feel like a sword master and I didn't need cut scenes or dialogue to tell me that, as I ran down the path to the final boss literally cutting hordes of enemies to pieces without taking damage (this wasn't a scripted scene, your sword really tears people a part as you get better at the game and further into it) to the point where you can take the final boss who is much larger then you in a legit sword fight, with no qtes or bs just flat out aiming right and being good, the sword slowly hacking through his armor (and showing the marks)
From spinning around and slicing 12 heads off with a single blow, to sending giants flying with a single sword thrust all in raw un-scripted gameplay. Shadow Warrior delivers the best 1st person melee I've ever played and maybe the best sword fighting in any perspective.
Shadow Warrior gets a 9/10 from me, only held back by some slightly outdated character models and a narrative that doesn't fully match the great characters and dialogue within. If you play this game you will leaving feeling like a sword master through pure real time gameplay alone and not lengthy hands free animations or cut scenes, something that many games struggle with really conveying. [/B]
Awesome. I may check this game out on PC.
Edit - Just watched a gameplay vid. How the hell did I miss this gem of a game? It looks amazing and looks fun.