Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 2 review

A lot of the issues from Episode 1 have been addressed.  There are some slight changes to aerial physics; Sonic “feels” a bit more natural this time around when it comes to executing a spin dash or rolling his way through loops.  It reverts back to the classic Sonic style, in a way, while still maintaining a little something for the here and now.  It’s a step forward.

What’s more, Sega found a way to incorporate Tails so he isn’t just a squeaky annoyance who follows you around everywhere.  You can now use him for combined techniques to help you get around the level — such as hovering to higher platforms as he acts as a helicopter, or teaming up with him in a big rolling super ball so you can bust through walls.

But with the good comes the bad.  While the addition of Tails’ abilities are unique, they aren’t quite perfect.  He gets tired way too easy when he’s in flight, so when you’re struggling to stay alive from what appears to be a bottomless fall, he gives in and you die anyway.  Thanks a lot, buddy.  For that matter, it’s too easy to hit the wrong button, especially during boss fights, and lose all your coins as a result.

Ugh, the boss fights.  On the one hand, they are pretty cool at first, as you actually have to use your brain to figure out how to beat Robotnik’s creations, like a huge plant-like creature at the end of the first stage.  But on the other, there aren’t any clear indicators on how to beat them.  You’ll either have to rely on dumb luck — especially with the Metal Sonic confrontations, which are infuriating — or watch YouTube videos to figure out how they get done.  Even then, the final confrontation with Robotnik is likely to leave you livid, even if you do get how to finish him.

That’s too bad, because the rest of the game is structured quite well.  The level layouts are more likable this time around, with not only a great deal of variety, but also several great hidden short-cuts, which lead to 1-ups and other goodies.

In addition, we’re happy to see that the 3D bonus stages are back, as you race through chasms collecting coins and dodging mines, in the hopes of being rewarded with a Chaos Emerald at the end.

Sonic 4 Episode 2 looks way better than the first, thanks to impressive animations (the team-up attacks look nice) and 3D backgrounds that scroll with the action.  The speed of the game is quite impressive too, even when it appears that there’s a lot happening in the stage.  It keeps up remarkably.

 

 

Wish we could say the same for the music, though.  Sonic 4 Episode 2 has one of the weakest soundtracks in the series, and it repeats way too often for its own good.  Dimps and Sonic Team should’ve learned its lesson from what Sonic the Hedgehog CD delivered just a few months ago, and channeled that energy instead of making “just another Sonic soundtrack.”

Though it’s a mixed bag in places, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 2 is a noticeable step up from the first game.  Whether it’s worth your $15, or 1200 Microsoft points, depends on how much you like the demo.  Old-school Sonic fans will definitely want to indulge.  Everyone else, however, will probably be safe buying Sonic CD for five bucks, since it’s the overall better experience.

Via: Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 2 review

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TERA review

To refresh everyone's memory, TERA features high-paced action combat that relies just as much on player skill as it does character stats.  You must aim properly and click to successfully attack your enemy.  Each click performs a different attack in the combo.  Add in some special abilities that can combo into other abilities for more damage and En Masse has created a nice little combat system.

In regular encounters you don't really appreciate the combat as much, but once you get into the later level dungeons and BAM (big-ass monster) encounters, you begin to see combat is a test of strength and endurance.  It's not easy to actively aim, dodge, and counter a giant boss for 10 minutes.

Unfortunately, at this point, combat is really all TERA has in terms of gameplay that really differentiates itself from other MMOs on the market.  Sure, En Masse does some things different and tweaks some standard MMO practices. For instance, gathering resources provides you with a slight stat boost like increased health regeneration or faster speed.  They don't reinvent the MMO knife, but they sure do sharpen it.

I particularly enjoyed the glyph system.  Glyphs are earned as you level up and are then spent to modify your skills.  Rather than stat points or talent points, glyphs upgrade your skills allowing you to optimize your character for the role you intend to fill.  You can boost certain abilities so you can get the most out of the skills you use most often.

In my first review, I hadn't yet run an instance or encountered a BAM.  After a lot of grinding (unfortunately, the leveling does slow quite a lot once into the 20s), I realized the combat was a mask of otherwise normal gameplay.  Instances are fairly standard - pull a group of mobs, tank pulls aggro, and DPS them down.  It's not a bad system, but I would've liked to see them do something different to compliment the combat.

Questing in TERA is mundane at best.  They attempt to interweave story into the grind, but unfortunately it falls flat.  Regardless of whether you are on the story quest or the one's designed to give you chunks of XP, they all revolve around "kill 10 of these" or "gather 5 of those".  Of course, with MMOs this seems to be the big problem of late.  Even Star Wars: The Old Republic which did story the right way, still failed to overcome the lame "kill 10" mobs.  In the end, TERA's poor attempts at short cut scenes come off if it was tacked on last minute.

Via: TERA review

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Glitch review

Tiny Speck's MMO is not like much of what you see cluttering up the genre. For starters, Glitch is a very calm and non-threatening experience. Don't expect epic battles with fierce monsters, constant level grinding in caves, or monotonous quests. No, Glitch is a much more freeing experience. You can do whatever you like at your own pace, and you can enjoy the game for what it is: a harmless side-scroller that's enjoyable and, at times, therapeutic.

Don't get me wrong, there's certainly a lot to do in the world of Glitch. There are several tasks to undertake, skills to learn, and people to interact with. You can do anything you want, from watering trees to harvesting for supplies and ingredients, but there are also a few offbeat activities. Feel like nibbling on a pig? If that's too harsh for you, why not pet it? Maybe you'd like to sing to a butterfly. Don't feel like singing? OK, why don't you give that pretty flying creature a nice massage? Despite the fact that none of these actions make much sense (with the exception of nibbling on a tasty pig), they are all things you can do in Glitch.

The game still makes sure to follow certain MMO tropes, even with all of its joyously nonsensical elements. Building skills is a major part of playing Glitch, and if you want to prepare tasty meals, mine for items, and be an expert digger, you're going to have to put some work into increasing your abilities. Actually, you don't need to do much of anything. Simply assign what skill you want to increase, and a trusty guide will start reading a book on said skill. Once the little guy has read through the whole thing, you will have upped your abilities. It's simple, it's inviting, and it does away with you actually having to do anything. If you do wish to engage in some sort of physical activity, though, there are various quests for you to take part in, most of which grant you experience points and cash.

You'll run into other players and encounter them watering trees, making donations to shrines, and so on. If you feel like engaging them in conversation, you can do so. Talk to them, hug them, give them a gift, add them to your friends list — you can interact with other players as you see fit. Personally, I've always been and always will be a lone wolf gamer (read: antisocial), so while I don't add friends, I certainly take requests into consideration. If you dig the social aspects of MMOs, Glitch has what you're looking for.

If everything seems very relaxed and low-key, that's because it is. Glitch isn't going to have you in suspense. It isn't going to make you tense. It's certainly not going to raise your heart rate. Instead of being the typical action-oriented MMO, Glitch is the type of game that you can sit back and relax with... kind of like Katamari Damacy. Even if you're into "standard" MMOs, you should really give Glitch a try. It's engaging enough that you'll get really into it, but it's got plenty of traditional MMO attributes — tweaked to suit the subject matter and aim of the game — to keep fans of the genre satisfied. If you're like me and don't like MMOs at all, then this is the game you should play. It's drastically different from anything else in the genre, and it's really just a fun game to let loose and have fun with, featuring writing that's witty and comical enough to appeal to most gamers.

If I had to compare Glitch to any other games, I'd say it's almost like a cross between Harvest Moon, Animal Crossing, and Katamari Damacy. The game lets you take a character through a large world, buy yourself a home, and do some loot grabbing. There's plenty of interaction to be done, which makes it a social experience if you're looking for that. And like Katamari Damacy, there's junk literally everywhere for you to accrue, and the game takes a sit-back-and-relax approach, so nothing ever feels daunting. Even the visuals and sounds are created to evoke a calming experience. Gamers, non-gamers, and MMO fans alike can all find enjoyment in Glitch. It's so inviting, and it's perfect for when you want some down time. Most importantly, it's fun, and that's really why we play video games in the first place.

For a bunch of nonsensical gibberish, follow @thesanchezdavid on Twitter.

Via: Glitch review

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Diablo III review

Like any of the games in the series, Diablo III is about one thing — the loot.  “Beating” the game, as in defeating the final boss at the end of Act IV, gets you an achievement and allows you to play on the next harder difficulty.  By no means is that the “end” of the game though.  The default difficulty is normal.  For the most part, the game is fairly simple and easily completed by yourself.  With a level cap at 60, you won’t even be close to max level by the end of your normal run through. 

The formula for the game of the Beast III is unlocking the harder difficulties, play with three friends, and get all the loots — very Borderlands-esque (which took concepts from Diablo #fullcircle).  The higher your level, the harder the difficulty, and the more people playing will account to you getting better drops.  There are also items that add to your % pool for better items to drop.  It’s all about the gear.

Speaking of friends, like the other recent Blizzard games, you can talk to any of your Battlenet friends at any time.  The social system is awesome and so simple it is downright stupid.  On top of that, and perhaps the best feature, is that you can jump into any of your friends' games at any time (if there aren't four players in there already).  The reverse is also true; your friends can jump into your game whenever.  I personally love this feature.  If I get a great drop that a friend can use, I just jump into their game, portal to them, and hand it over.  That’s networking baby.

You have a stash which works as a shared bank for all of your characters.  What I mean by this is that a sword you put in your stash, will be there for all your characters — not just for the character you put it in there for.  This same system works for the crafters; the upgrade you get for the blacksmith and gem crafter are present across all your characters.  Again, I am a huge fan of this system.  Lastly, to break up some confusion, you can be both a blacksmith and a gem crafter.  Also, blacksmiths make weapons for magical characters, as well.

The auction house is incredibly simple and efficient to use.  Besides being a bit slow on searches at times, I have no complaints.  You can sell up to 10 items at a time.  The auction house is at the character select screen and nowhere in actual play.  With that said, you have full access to your stash when buying and selling items.  The categorization is easy, fast, and quite searchable.

The story line was surprisingly interesting with twists that I didn’t see coming.  The game revisits characters we have all come to know and love, with the addition of a few more.   Blizzard did an excellent job of continuity and continuing the epic.  In an action RPG like Diablo, I usually don’t expect much from the story line, but I was certainly impressed.

There are five classes that can be played as either gender.  There is zero customization with how your character looks however which is a shame, since I’m always a fan of customization.  I understand character customization hasn’t been a thing in Diablo's past and that I should be happy with the fact that I can play as male or female… but it certainly wouldn’t have hurt, though.  The only customization found in the game is done through dyes which can be bought from certain vendors.

Each of the five classes has their own skill set and different resource to use their abilities.  For instance, the witch doctor has the classic mana system, while the barbarian uses fury.  The witch doctor uses mana to cast spells and over time it replenishes, while the barbarian has to build up his focus through attacks to use his abilities — diversity.  Unlike Diablo II, this game doesn’t have skill trees.  Instead, you build your character with a choice of six slots with various runes for each spell.  Each ability you have has multiple runes that you can only pick one of to change an effect on that ability.  Ability selection, rune selection, and what gear you wear determines your build.

Via: Diablo III review

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Dead Hungry Diner review

Narrated in storybook form, Gabriel and Gabriella’s cooking adventures lend charm to what is a simple, routine type of casual game. The sleepy Frankenstein hulk, Frankie, will toss out Vandra when she crashes your shift, casting spells on your patrons, or separate customers when they pick a fight with the wrong sort of folk sitting next to them. Vampires and werewolves don’t mix, and neither do banshees and ogres. And no one likes a certain grim fellow except for the zombie crowd, who seem to be the most peaceable of the lot.

Vandra will chase you from place to place, allowing a natural progression through the different locales around Ravenwood. Your entrepreneurial days begin in the graveyard and expand to a church, mansion, theater, and finally a castle. These settings bring new challenges, better spells to combat the pressures of good business, and a fresh arrangement of tables.

Dead Hungry Diner is what you might expect from the genre, but its personality and story help distinguish it from others of its kind. It’s not an ambitious title, but sometimes the alternative can lead to a better experience — one where careful and friendly design rules, and the gameplay keeps clear of troublesome baggage.

Clicking on different objects or customers is easy enough, but it becomes trickier when the game starts implementing double queues, splitting those waiting to be seated into two lines. Moving them where you want them causes a little fuss with the mouse, but it’s not obtrusive enough to hinder you for long.

To master gameplay, players must demonstrate their multitasking skills, optimize the tools at their command, manipulate the queue(s) prudently, and most of all, think fast. Fail to attend to a monster in a reasonable amount of time, and he’ll leave, taking precious points with him.

When you’ve settled the stomachs of these nightly creatures, you can take orders for an all-you-can-eat buffet: an endless mode set in any of the five worlds that offers mild replay value. Unfortunately, these games tend to stretch on forever, and it’s more a way to compete for scores than fatten your purse for those beefed up spells you never bought.

Dead Hungry Diner isn’t quite the momentous achievement for casual games as, say, Plants vs. Zombies is, but it’s hard to dislike what’s there. Even the most wretched, evil fiends of darkness start to grow on you as the game goes on, and Gabriel and Gabriella are lovable themselves. It feels silly to root for children who’d rather cook for monsters and send them to their graves and coffins happy than rid the Earth of their scourge, as Vandra would have it, but that’s part of the fun. For $10 (or less if you buy now on Steam), Dead Hungry Diner is the perfect investment for any peckish gamer looking for a quick and meaty bite.

A Mac version of the game is coming soon.

Follow @wita on Twitter for tales of superheroes, plumbers in overalls, and literary adventures.

Via: Dead Hungry Diner review

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Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier review

The Clancy franchise has been evolving lately into a more straightforward approach to shooters; in other words, "we're busting in guns blazing, tango out." Recon, though, continues to be the outlier for Clancy, as seen in this most recent installment. Future Soldier identifies itself rather quickly and maintains it through most of the action. Players will quickly become accustomed to silent, tactical killing, using squad-based signals in a satisfying way. Fans who crave action should not shake this one off though. Future Soldier does not shy away from action. Instead, it conveniently spaces out its stealth and "guns blazing" sequences where players will always be on their toes. Add in a jaw-dropping tagging system, dubbed "Sync Shot," where you're able to pick out foes for your squad to kill on your mark, and you've got yourself a hefty diet of excellent gameplay. 

In case you've been out of the loop, Recon once again revolves around the gritty military group called the Ghosts. Your squad of four begins its journey by responding to the death of another Ghost squad through crucial intel on the projected killer. The small scaled response quickly intensifies into a full-fledged arms race with warheads and lots of bad guys. The 12-hour campaign plays out forthright in that you're always aware of your tasks and why you're doing them. One would assume, then, that you're able to develop an emotional attachment to your squad, but unfortunately, that is not the case. Also, you'll begin to feel like your tasks are all the same: get to point A, retrieve your target, and then get to point B for extraction. Luckily, Future Soldier's gameplay makes this mission set-up worthwhile, especially during the later missions. 

Your objectives throughout Future Soldier won't leave you fighting in one location (but you already knew that, right?). From the streets of South America to the cold air of Russia, Future Soldier branches out quite well. As you're presented greater threats throughout the campaign, you become aware of a true, futuristic war. Enemies begin to counterattack with gadgets that you'd expect to see in â€‹Star Trek or Men in Black III​, but it's what sets the tone of the game. It also doesn't hurt that Ubisoft beefed up the graphics from earlier previews so that it can now stand toe-to-toe with today's shooters. It's nothing innovative but it's definitely a pretty game with detailed locations that you'll undoubtedly appreciate. 

How well does Future Soldier's formula transfer to online play, you ask? Quite outstanding. Unlike other shooter's attempts to call their multiplayer team-based, Future Soldier's truly thrives off team play. Each mode depends on players' ability to utilize their class' strengths to counteract opponents. It'll leave you with an accomplished feeling when you win a match, and will leave you pondering your team's strategy when you fall in defeat — this is exactly what an excellent multiplayer should do. In addition to your standard modes, Future Soldier includes a â€‹Mass Effect 3​-like "Horde" mode called "Guerilla" where players must fend off waves of enemies at various locations on a map. It doesn't quite offer the same experience as multiplayer, but it's something that you and three buddies can thoroughly enjoy.

In an industry that's not easily surprised, we can most definitely say that Ghost Recon: Future Soldier â€‹has done just that. The game's excellent stealth sequences pave the way for an above average story. Jump online and the action only reinforces the fantastic gameplay. Of course, Future Soldier has its faults and nit-picky issues like AI responsiveness and unpredictable in-game alarm alerts, but they're easily overlooked by the hours of third-person shooter fun that highlights the game. Whether you're a Tom Clancy connoisseur or a newcomer to the franchise's library, you'll quickly applaud Ubisoft for everything Future Soldier is. And it is everything we wanted it to be and more. 

Via: Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier review

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