Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Online review

Just like the predecessors in the franchise, Ghost Recon Online adapts an over-the-shoulder third-person shooting perspective. Running around the map is fairly simple given its standard PC control set up. You have the ability to walk or run when you’re standing up as well as choosing to crouch or go prone. The game is all about tactical positioning and maneuvering and it encourages to do that. All of the maps have some sort of nook and cranny to hide yourself behind if you want to go prone. In addition there are various objects on the map to crouch behind as well. Movement overall feels very solid.

If you’re running throughout the map you have the option to click the space bar which will make your character dive forward and if there is cover in front of you, immediately hide behind it. This diving mechanic saves lives and really keeps the pace of the game fluid, with no odd transitional movements or extra stuff bogging you down from, “Oh I gotta run all the way and click another button to take cover.” Taking cover is a fairly interesting concept in GRO as it gives you certain stats. While moving around and shooting will give you much larger recoil, precision of bullets, and critical hit rates - bonus damage - shooting behind cover will minimize those effects. This encourages less run and gun and more of that tactical positioning. It also prevents players from zerging to objective locations. Rather, it requires teammates to slowly push forward using cover. It’s much more engaging to know that you’re moving across as a team than being a mindless force pushing ever onwards. 

To further promote that team effort, GRO has an extremely useful mechanic which groups nearby teammates. There will be blue imaginary lines that come out and extend to nearby friendlies. It will reveal their position and their health even if i you can’t see them. Additionally, if the ally that is connected to you spots an enemy you can see the outlinings of the enemy running across the map, even if there are obstructions blocking your view. This quintessential mechanic makes group play very exciting as well as intriguing. It creates a new breed of coordination and teamwork as the best group will exploit this system to have no blind spots and keep an eye on their teammates. Numerous times I was able to hunt someone down with my teammates and corner them because someone else saw the enemy. 

Despite all of the tools that GRO gives to the player for their usage, it’s extremely limited in other aspects of the game. There are only four available maps at the present moment and they all have a built-in mode: Conquest or Onslaught. Conquest is a fairly simple gametype wheretwo teams vye for a capture point. Once one team has captured a point, they will move forward to the next zone while the team that lost the point will be pushed back. Essentially it’s a tug of war in which two teams must compete for the most captured points at the end of the round, and subsequently the end of the game. Onslaught is similar in that one team is defending and the other is on the offensive. The latter team must capture point A and B. After these are seized they will unlock point C, which must also be caught to win the round. The former team must prevent these from happening and succeeding to do so will win them the round. The following round the two teams will switch roles and whoever wins the best two out of three wins the game. 

Via: Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Online review

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Transformers: Fall of Cybertron review

The Autobots and Decepticons are still at each other’s throats, with their home planet, Cybertron, in a dying state.  All the Autobots want to do is leave in a cosmic Ark of sorts, while the Decepticons, vying to get their hands on some precious Energon, want to crush their foes flat.  The campaign mode will give you the opportunity to control various characters from each side, including familiar faces (Megatron, Optimus Prime), more obscure robots (the Combaticons, Cliffjumper) and even a few new faces coming into the story for the first time (Bruticus and, of course, Grimlock).

Though the campaign is fairly short, it’s lots of fun, especially when certain parts of it come together so well.  One great stage involves an assault on a mega-sized bridge, with the Combaticons taking out gears collectively while destroying enemies on the ground and in the air.  The introduction of Grimlock is awesome too, as he starts swatting away at Insecticons in robot form before he finally shows them what he’s really made of in his T-Rex form, complete with flamethrower breath.  He truly is king.

The gameplay as a whole is mostly solid, but not perfect.  While playing as small cars, maneuverability can be slippery when using the turbo booster, as we learned trying to escape from a stage midway through.  But you’ll still be transforming between robot and vehicle forms with ease for the most part, using all sorts of firepower, including plasma cannons, a corrosive goo gun and missile launchers.

Once you finish the campaign – which should take you a few hours – you can move on to the multiplayer modes, which are quite satisfying.  Escalation is a four-player survival-style mode where you face 15 waves of growing enemy waves, unlocking new perks and weapons with the currency you collect.  It’s hardly original (hello, Gears of War 2?), but a good time nevertheless.

Competitive multiplayer is even better, as you get to choose between four various classes, each with their own special abilities on the battlefield, as you fight between Autobots and Decepticons.  Leveling up in this mode is addictively fun, and you can even give your robots a special design, including a metallic finish.  What’s more, each robot transforms almost effortlessly, a true feat that shows High Moon’s dedication to product.

But they try a little too hard at times.  And you’ll see that in some cases with the graphics.  The Unreal Engine 3 technology really goes a long way here to introducing more sprawling areas of Cybertron, from a harvesting factory to a battle underneath a lumbering, super-sized bulldozer.  However, sometimes there’s too much going on, and the frame rate can take a hit, what with enemies coming at you and lighting happening all at once.  Still, it maintains for the most part, and that certainly beats not working at all.  Plus, some of these animations are really cool, like when Grimlock takes a bite out of his enemies.  CHOMP!

The audio fares much better.  The music is excellent, typical of Transformers standards, and the sound effects add a great mixture of effects, including wicked plasma blasts.  But it’s the voicework that really kicks the product into overdrive.  Peter Cullen is once again masterful as Optimus Prime, and we’re thrilled to hear Gregg Berger again as Grimlock.  Not to be outdone is Nolan North, who voices Cliffjumper and Bruticus to great effect.  His exchanges with Troy Baker (voicing Jazz) are probably the most entertaining ones in the game.

Though somewhat flawed in the graphics and shortened campaign department, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron is a splendid sequel that outdoes last year’s somewhat rushed Dark of the Moon by a long shot.  What’s more, its multiplayer really gives you a lot to do, whether it’s surviving with your friends or taking on all comers and leveling up like a bandit.  It'd be cheesy if we said, "It's more than meets the eye"...but it really is.

[Reviewed on Xbox 360]

Via: Transformers: Fall of Cybertron review

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Sugar Cube: Bittersweet Factory review

Grids fill up the screen in each of the levels. It's up to you to guide the sugary protagonist from the start of a level to the far-off goal. Platforms, springs, and other elements are hidden within every level, and by passing by or around them, you can reveal the hidden path. In order to reach the goal, you have to flip tiles to open up platforms and other paths. Sugar Cube can get tricky, and it does a good job of providing an ample challenge.

You collect different abilities as you travel through the game's five worlds. These abilities are specific to certain levels, and they require you to approach the puzzles in different ways. For example, one power-up turns our cubed star into a superhero of sorts. While donning this costume, he can "flip" the level and reveal platforms and paths that weren't open before. There's also a pick-up that lets you flip tiles that are above, below, or in front of you. It can get a bit confusing, but with a little trial and error, you should be able to tackle the game's more confusing puzzles.

Speaking of trial and error, Sugar Cube is saturated in it just like a bag of obscenely sweet candy. Oftentimes, you don't know exactly how to progress through a level, and it's very easy to send the walking sugar cube into the abyss. If you pass through a platform you already opened up, you'll cover it up once more. It can get frustrating having to deal with the finicky tile-flipping mechanics because you end up failing often. You have the option to hold down the Shift key to refrain from flipping grids, but it's easy to forget about that when you're just trying to get to the goal.

I wish this setback was only a minor flaw, but it's not. It plagues a lot of the experience, and Sugar Cube suffers for it greatly. As you get further into the game, you'll discover more unpleasant quirks. Sometimes, having the ability to flip tiles below you ends up costing you because you flip all the platforms underneath you, which means you eventually have nothing to land on. Additionally, several levels require precise timing to get past an obstacle, enemy, or boss. This is especially annoying when levels require you to do that multiple times, because even if you get past that first baddie, you might accidentally touch another one afterward just because you mistimed a jump by one-tenth of second.

Sugar Cube's presentation is a mix of pleasant color and bland sound. The levels have a cutesy appeal to them that's kind of nice to look at. Nothing will blow you away, and the game could have definitely featured a bit more inherent charm, but it still looks pretty good. The music, however, is a miss for the most part. None of the themes in Sugar Cube are remotely memorable, and because there's one track per world, you can expect to hear the same songs for long periods of time.

If you're looking for a fun little puzzle platformer, Sugar Cube definitely has what it takes to satisfy your desire, all the while making you want to snack on some chocolate chip cookies. The game is priced at $5, so it's affordable, and it will last you an evening or two, depending on whether you get a bit bored of it. Ultimately, Sugar Cube provides a few hours of entertainment coupled with frustration. This isn't a game that people will talk about for years to come, but it does a good job of challenging, satisfying, and even annoying players.

For a bunch of indie game and burrito talk, follow @thesanchezdavid on Twitter.

Via: Sugar Cube: Bittersweet Factory review

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Counter-Strike: Global Offensive console review

There aren’t more intense shooting games around than Counter Strike. With realistic damage, quick rounds, and purchasable weapons and gear, this game will get your blood pumping. Counter Strike’s main game mode doesn’t feature respawns which makes every move you make matter that much more. One bad move and your turn is over until the next round. The game is based on a money system, do good and you can buy better weapons, armor and grenades. Do poorly however and you’ll be relegated to using pistols and flashbangs.

Counter Strike: GO has 4 different game modes, Arms Race, Demolition, Classic Casual and Classic Competitive. Classic Casual and Competitive are the same game mode with different rules and variants. In the competitive variant, friendly fire and team collision are turned on and you have to buy armor and bomb defuse kits. These are also best of 30 rounds, perfect for displaying your dominance. The casual version turns friendly fire and team collision off, gives you more money to buy weapons, and gives everyone armor and bomb defuse kits. These games are also much faster, only being best out of 10 rounds.

You'll take sides as either the terrorists, tasked with planting a bomb and covering it before the other team can defuse it, or the counter terrorist team, trying to eliminate their opposition without allowing them to blow the place up. The Demolition game type is similar to the classic mode except you don’t buy weapons; you earn them in the beginning of the match.

Arms Race is a new game type in which you get a new weapon for each kill you get. Think Call of Duty: Black Op’s Gun Game. You get the new weapon instantly and there are instant respawns, the only game type to offer that. This is also a team-based game where friendly fire is enabled so you have to be careful and not shoot at everything that moves. The game is over when one person on either team gets a kill with all of the weapons.

This version of Counter Strike runs off of Valve’s Source system, which gives the graphics a much better look, even though the Source engine is quite dated. Counter Strike was never known for its graphics, but they do look polished. Hit markers also seem perfect, which means if you were aiming at someones head and missed, you have no one to blame but yourself. Game play was also lag-free playing with full teams, which is always nice on launch day.

Counter Strike has always had top-notch gameplay and the console versions don’t disappoint. Using the Dualshock 3 controller felt natural for Global Offensive, which is impressive for a game known for using a keyboard and mouse. Speaking of, the PS3 version lets you use a keyboard and mouse against people using the standard controller, a feature not available on the Xbox 360 version. Yes, you read that right, you're actually able to play using a mouse and keyboard on your PS3. Mind blown.

Aside from being available on Steam, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is available on both PSN and XBLA for a mere $15. For this price, Counter Strike is a must have if you were either a fan of the original, or just love death. This game offers multiplayer that rivals Call of Duty for 1/4^th the price. If you’re a fan of first person or tactical shooters, you owe it to yourself to download this immediately.

[Reviewed on PlayStation 3]

Follow me on Twitter at @AlexEqualsWin and Gamezone at @Gamezoneonline

Via: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive console review

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The Walking Dead Episode 2: Starved For Help review

Following up on the events of A New Day, the first chapter that was released at the beginning of the summer gaming season, Starved For Help once again puts you in the shoes of Lee Everett, a felon who escapes police custody and finds himself as the leader of a group of survivors in a ramshackled fortress that used to be a motel.  Several of these folks are dependent on your decisions, such as how you’ll ration out food or who you’ll play “favorites” with.  Among these are Clementine, a young child who you stuck with throughout the first chapter of the series, as well as others, including the militant Lilly.

Episode 1 really paved the way when it came to decision-making, forcing you to make harsh choices and side with certain characters, while turning a cold shoulder to others in your hopes of surviving the onslaught of the undead.   But in Episode 2, you really see how these decisions shape the course of your adventure, as some of your fellow survivors opt to take matters into their own hands.  It’s here where you really learn what it takes to survive such an event.

Leave it to Telltale Games’ team to once again shape a truly nerve-racking zombie experience, right up there with Robert Kirkman’s comic book novel.  You’ll have your fair share of undead encounters, but the real twist of the knife here comes in the drama that unfolds between survivors, and the consequences behind some of your actions.  Someone who you put your trust into could easily be the worst person possible, while someone you were counting on can easily turn their back to save their own hide.  It’s mesmerizing watching how your choices go down.

That said, there is a slight bit less gameplay and puzzle solving in this chapter, as Telltale wanted to focus more on the decision-making this time around.  So if you’re expecting plenty of zombie-shredding moments, you might have to go back to Episode 1 to get your fill.  That doesn’t mean this isn’t a compelling game experience, because it is, but this isn’t one of those games where you’ll want to mash buttons just to see where it goes.  You’ll miss the point of it that way.

Though the general gameplay time is roughly just over a couple of hours, you can go through the experience again and see where your decisions take you.  You might even be tempted to go back to Episode 1 just to see how things shape up.  Very rarely do you run into a game that gives you a reason to revisit its roots.

As far as presentation goes, Episode 2 has some slight blemishes with character design and lip-synching, but the surroundings are still quite stirring, and the zombies look more haunting than ever before.  Some of the human reactions are a bit startling as well, especially if you catch some poor sap off guard with food rations.  Likewise, the audio is top quality, with a strong voice cast and ideal musical cues working in the right instances.

We won’t have to wait long to see where the third chapter of this series, Long Road Ahead, takes us, as it’s due for an August release.  That’ll give you enough time to explore Episode 2, though.  Starved For Help is the best episode to date, one filled with multiple options and choices that show you just how harrowing a zombie apocalypse can be – and all without continuously wielding a shotgun, at that.  We can’t wait to see how the rest of this series shapes up...even if we're not entirely prepared for it emotionally.  (Hey, that's a good thing.)

[Reviewed on Xbox 360]

Via: The Walking Dead Episode 2: Starved For Help review

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Anna review

The story of Anna portrays a recurring nightmare, in which you always see a house in a beautiful forest, bathed in sunlight. It's not until you step inside of the house when you realize it's the polar opposite. Dark rooms with only a few lit candles, creaky floorboards, eerie paintings and a generally gloomy atmosphere make you feel completely isolated and paranoid. It's in this atmosphere that Anna completely succeeds at immersing you in a state of fear and paranoia.

Anna actually plays out a lot like the Paranormal Activity movies. As you're exploring the house, two phases occur. In one phase, which I call the "generally safe phase", the music plays in the background, which lowers the volume of the creaking floorboards, and instead gives you a sense of protection. The song is entirely soothing, as it starts with some smooth guitar eventually ending with a relaxing yet still eerie female voice. It's when the music ends and you're left in complete silence, that a sense of dread comes over you.

In the second phase, the game always plays out a sound cue (also identical to the movie) which signifies some sort of paranormal actions happening around you. While this freaked me out in the game initially, in the later half of the game, I've just grown to expect it. And while there were generally freaky moments at times, they never rose to the quality of scares of games like Amnesia for example.

Anna at its core is a straight up point and click adventure game however. You'll be solving puzzles through its entirety, literally from start to finish. That wouldn't be a terrible thing, if some of the puzzles actually made sense. I'll be the first to admit that I'm generally not great at puzzle games, and they do take me a while to solve. However after solving them in other games, I always have that "Oh yeah!" moment of realization. Anna has some puzzles that even after you figure them out by chance, or with the assistance of the in-game help, you'll just go "What the f*ck?!" Seriously, I don't want to spoil anything here, but just know that the seed bag puzzle, is in no way apparent, nor does the game even indicate what you're supposed to do with it.

Though I've seen Anna compared to games like Amnesia, I actually think it has more in common with Dear Esther. You learn about the story and about yourself as you go through the house and solve various puzzles. It's a grim story for sure, but you won't learn it unless you get the "true" ending. This is where I found a big fault in the game.

On my first playthrough, whenever something abnormal happened, I would tend to run away from it, fearing it, as a person who believes in, and is fearful of ghosts would. However, during that playthrough, I've never descended into madness enough to get further in the game, and I got the worst ending. During my second playthrough, since I already knew some of the occurrences that would happen, I actually approached them, which in my opinion is something that someone who doesn't believe in, and is not fearful of ghosts would do. The game however perceives it as the opposite and therefore drives you more mad, eventually leading up to a much more satisfying ending.

The problem here is how Anna sells itself. During my three playthroughs, every scare was the same, even though I tried playing differently. This was a letdown since I figured the selling point of the game was that it would know how to use your tells against you. The only thing indicative of this actually working was that I stared at a bunch of cans on the floor. These cans eventually started to fly across the room to hit me when I would least expect it. Sure it scared me at times, but I'm not sure how focusing on a can laying on the floor meant I was afraid of it. So when I said that the game is pretty much a test of patience, it just means you have to wait out for the paranormal to happen, and not solve the puzzles as quickly as you can.

With that said, Anna is still a good game. Regardless of some of the insanely difficult puzzles, I still recommend it to anyone who enjoys psychological horror games. The true ending does explain the plot, even though you can still draw some of your own conclusions from it. At only $9.99, it's a fair price for about a three hour experience, which can be extended if you want to see all the endings.

Via: Anna review

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Penny Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 3 review

Aside from being informative, a lot of the narrative in Rain-Slick 3 is also brilliantly comical. If you've played Cthulhu Saves the World or Breath of Death VII: The Beginning, then you're aware of just how clever the writing in Zeboyd's titles really is. Whether the characters are poking fun at each other or simply being observant about their current situation, most of what they say is really funny. You'll find yourself not only chuckling, but laughing a hearty laugh at some of the things Gabe, Tycho, and company have to say.

The writing isn't the only thing that stands out in Rain-Slick 3. The whole design of the game is absolutely offbeat and witty.  One level, for example, features portraits of the monstrous Cthulhu, paying homage not only to Zeboyd's previous RPG, but also to Lovecraft's brain-child. Additionally, the enemy design in Rain-Slick 3 is extraordinarily wonderful. Evil mimes and suit-wearing dinosaurs are just the beginning. There are countless awesomely bizarre baddies in the game to keep a goofy smile on your face while you play. Oh, and the enemy descriptions during battle sequences? Pure gold.

Despite the comical overtones throughout the entirety of the experience, the battle system in Rain-Slick 3 is no joke. Though it certainly has a retro style to it, Zeboyd has thrown in some deep and refined gameplay into this RPG. Most of this depth revolves around the different class systems. Rain-Slick 3 features traditional RPG classes such as mage and brute, but there are some odd types among the bunch, as well. For example, there are dinosaur and hobo classes, which offer their own advantages and disadvantages. And before you ask, yes, the dinosaur and hobo classes are as weird as they sound.

You've got physical and magic attacks at your disposal, as well as MP that depletes with every attack. MP cost is higher or lower depending on the strength of your attacks, and sometimes you need to hold off from using commands that waste a lot of MP so you can stock up for the major damage-dealing offensive moves. There's a tactical edge to Rain-Slick 3 that really makes you think before you attack often. And while you can most certainly get away with dishing out the same moves at times, that won't work out throughout the entire game.

The level of challenge in Rain-Slick 3 fluctuates throughout the course of the experience. Most of the time, everything flows smoothly and you'll be able to get through battles by making smart decisions and choosing the right moves. There are a handful of bosses, however, that are pretty brutal. It can actually be a bit frustrating if you're trying to breeze through these bouts as if they were any other battle. That said, if you plan out some smarter strategies — proper healing, powering up certain characters, knowing when to sacrifice an attack in order to stock up on MP — you'll be able to conquer any challenge. Oh, it'll still be tough, but it'll at least be doable.

Previous games in Penny Arcade's series of RPGs featured polygonal graphics, but with Zeboyd at the helm, Rain-Slick 3 looks a lot more like something you'd see on the SNES. You know, something like the awesome Earthbound, which I mentioned earlier. If you dig retro-style RPGs, you'll probably like how Rain-Slick 3 looks. It really is a nice tribute to classic 16-bit RPGs. The same can be said about the sound design, which features some awesome themes, as well as chippy sound effects, all of which are highly welcome.

As cool as the positive aspects of Rain-Slick 3 may be, there are a few things that aren't all that great. The writing, while clever, can drag on a bit during certain sequences. Yes, there's a lot of funny dialogue in the game, but there are a few instances were characters — mostly enemies and sometimes Gabe and Tycho — just go on and on about the end of the world. Additionally, while I personally enjoyed the challenge in Rain-Slick 3, there were a few difficulty spikes that felt a bit cheap and unnecessary. Despite these few complaints, there's a level of quality here that's simply outstanding, and these minor warts don't take too much away from that.

Rain-Slick 3 isn't some massive 60-hour affair. This RPG is less traditional as far as its lasting value is concerned, and you can get through the game in about 10 hours. In those 10 hours, however, there are countless laughs to be had and a deep gameplay system that will challenge you. Sometimes it'll challenge you a bit too much, and it's hard to ignore the sometimes-tedious narrative sequences. Even then, Rain-Slick 3 is still a worthwhile experience for fans of the series, RPG aficionados, or someone like me who's just happy people are still making great games like this.

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

Via: Penny Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 3 review

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