by lucien21
Showing 1-10 of 23 items
Finished 01-02-15. This one took me a while to get through. Have been playing it on and off for a couple of months. Finally finished it with just under 30hrs playtime. Far Cry 4 is an open world sandbox game in the mold of Far Cry 3, in fact it is more or less identical with a few tweeks here and there. The story has you in a fake Himalayan country of Kyrat, returing home to scatter your mothers ashes. Kyrat is a dangerous place, controlled by a maniac called Pagan Min, in the middle of a civil war. It so happens that your parents were the leaders of the resistance before your dad was killed and your mum fled to the US with baby you. Returning to the country has given the resistance (The Golden Path) a figure head to use to fight back against Pagan, but first off you get captured by Pagan. Once you escape you are met by two leaders of the Golden Path, Amita and Sabal, who both want to use you in conflicting ways in the battle against Pagan. Sabal wants to keep the history and culture of the people and Amita wants to modernise and do away with some of the old traditions. To be honest you have to choose between these pair for most of the main story missions, but like all the NPC’s in this game they are all corrupt asswipes in the end. The main part of the game allows you to run around the open world completing side missions, hunting animals and skin them, climbing towers to unlock the map and overcoming bases to take control of territory. Most of the time I was just dicking around in the world as it was way too much fun just seeing what you could get away with. Hunting Animals gave you upgrades to weapons and equipment, finding grapell hooks and glide suits allowed you to climb higher and fly around the world with ease. I tended to be OP for most of the game because I spent the first 10 hours or so just wandering and levelling up. I had most of the weapons and a ton of money by then the rest of the game was fairly easy. New things in this one included Elephants which could be ridden and used to kill enemies, a neat little gyrocopter that was great for landing on the tops of towers or using the grenade launcher to blow up bases from the air, auto drive on the cars which took the pain out of driving and a coop mode. Animals were a tricky bunch from hunting dogs to Rhinos each had a different strategy. However a couple of them stood out as a complete pain in the ass. Eagles in Kyrat are feral buggers who swoop on you randomly and go for the eyes. Awkward to shoot and annoying as hell. Honey Badgers are not as sweet as they sound, the little ankle biters are lethal if not treated with respect. However watching a bear and a tiger fight is always fun. The world of Kyrat is gorgeous to look at and a pleasure to play in. There is nothing more satisfying that taking out a whole base of bad guys silently without being alerted either with a knife or bow, but when you get the silenced sniper rifle and some elevation they never know whose head is going splat next. Narratively the story is fine, despot leader, two whiney rebel leaders and you stuck in the middle. Not sure why all of a sudden you are willing to go all out Rambo because none of them are worth the killing and mess you make. A point that is hilariously made by Pagan Min at the end of the game (Just before I shot him and got the bad ending - oh well) So over all it is 30 hours of great fun, if you just arse around in the world and ignore the story. 5/5
Finished 04-02-15 Infamous First Light is the first DLC for last years PS4 Infamous game. A prequel to the main game, it features Fetch the light powered character that was the 2nd power you get in Second Son. The tragic storyline of Her and her Brother living on the edge of crime and drugs in Seattle. Forced to use her powers by a local drug lord who kidnaps her brother you have to avoid the newly set up DUP, the local cops and drug rivals as you try and get him back. Game was free this month on PSN+ so it was an ideal time to jump back into the open world of Seattle, run up walls and fire fight shards at bad guys. At about 4 hours it’s the perfect size to breeze through in a couple of hours. After the main story there are a small amount of side quests as well as a challenge arena that pits you against an increase range of enemies. Still as fun as the main game, but nothing new. 3/5
Finished 15-02-15
Finished the PS4 remastered edition 01-03-15 It’s been a couple of years since I played the PS3 version of the game and absolutely loved it to death. The remastered edition is the same game, but with enhanced graphics. Now the original was a stunning looking game on the PS3, but the PS4 version is double the framerate and a higher resolution. It moves and looks utterly amazing. The remastered edition also comes complete with the “Left Behind” DLC which I missed first time around, now it’s next up to play. Overall a masterpiece that has smoother action, better lightning and graphics. 5/5
Left Behind DLC Finished 07-03-15 Great little DLC story for The Last of Us. Set in between the Autumn and Winter sections of the main game it switches between the “Present” and flashbacks to Ellie’s past. In both periods you control Ellie and it switches back and forward between the stories at dramatic points. The Ellie of the “present” is more battle hardened from the events of the main games so the majority of the action sequences are in that part as you hunt a mall for health supplies while avoiding infected and rebels. Inter-spaced with this is a genuinely touching and sweet story of two best friends who escape the realities of what the world has become and spend a day wandering in another mall. Ellie’s friend takes her there to tell her she has joined the Fireflies and they walk around, talk alot, ride some carnival rides and generally goof around like normal teenage girls. Until reality comes back with a force and set ups Ellie’s journey for the main game. It is a great couple of hours game play that flashes out Ellie’s character and the large portions of quiet fun the two girls have is always tinged with the knowledge of what is coming. While you already know how both of these stories end, it is never the less an effective and touching story that is masterfully told. 5/5
Remastered PS4 17-03-15 Probably the 2nd best adventure game of all time, remastered and running on a PS4. Manny Calavera is a sales agent in the land of the dead. Collecting souls and trading their good deeds for a transport across the land of the dead to the ninth underworld. Stuck with dead end souls who don’t qualify for anything he hatches a plot to get himself a top grade client. This is where he meets Meche a virtual saint who should have had a golden ticket to the next world, but somehow didn’t qualify. Now Meche has set out on the long journey across and Manny must track her down in a 4 year journey with only his demon driver Glottis as company. To save the girl Manny must uncover the conspiracy behind the missing tickets and save the land of the dead. Still as fantastic as it ever was the remastered version basically tweeks the game to run on modern PC’s and consoles. Retaining the background art from the game Double Fine did a fine job upgrading the 3D models and lighting effects to todays standards while still allowing you to instantly switch to the old graphics at any time. They also added in a directors commentary track and changed the much maligned control scheme (although there is an achievement for playing the whole game in the old tank controls). Everything else stayed the same with no obvious attempt to simplify the puzzles or add in extra scenes etc. The original excelled due to outstanding characters, a fabulous soundtrack, great puzzles and while the game peaks too early in year two the game as a whole is a pleasure to play. Overall it is a competent remaster that retains all the charm of the original without sacrificing the gameplay. 5/5
31/05/15 PS4 launch game and 4th in the Killzone sequence. Records show that the last time I played it was July 2014 and only got 3 levels into the 10 level game before I put it aside. So now i’ve finally drew a line under the single player and completed the game (well as far as i’m willing to play it as I don’t care about the multiplayer etc). This game sees the enemy Helghast given sanctuary on your homeworld after the disater ending of the last game. Half the planet is given over to them and a giant wall and no mans land put in between. Tensions are still high as each side doesnt trust the other and constantly send spys back and forth. When there is an attack by the Helghast on a peaceful square it’s up to you to infiltrate enemy territory and single handedly take on the Helghast army once again. It’s your standard FPS plot, but cheesier. Anywhoo gunplay is fun, the environments are stunning and you pet robot OWL is a lot of fun to use. OWL can be used to shoot enemies while you cower behind something, Fire a zip line to get you across gaps, administer life saving adrenaline, provide shocks that disrupt enemy shields and finally it can hack terminals to open doors. Levels are wide open allowing for some variety in how to get across them as well as allowing the enemies to flank you at times (if only they were that smart most of the time) Overall this is a nice looking game with middle of the road gameplay. 3/5
07/06/15 Quality adventure game from Double Fine. Originally released in two parts but now it’s one whole game. Playing through Act one again reminded me how much I enjoyed it Part two saw you visit most of the locations seen in the first part, but seeing them from a different angle. While this is dissapointing from a art point of view as I was hoping to see this georgous art in more locations, it is understandable from a finanical and story point of view. Both teens have their world view turned upside down as they deal with the cliffhanger at the end of part one. Double fine seem to have listened to some of the criticism and have made part two longer and harder with some puzzles that will stump non adventure gamers. I loved the harder puzzles but the robot wiring puzzle got tedious as you had to do it multiple times. There was also a need to switch characters at various points as you got to stages where you got information that the other character needed (although how they communicated this is beyond me). This is poorly implemented as Part one could be completed individually without switching character so there was no expectation that switching was required. The game is beautiful to look at, the characters are funny well defined and voiced extremely well, the puzzles hard but fair and the story is fully of witty dialogue. It’s definitly one of the best adventure games to come out in the last 5 years and a quality of game that is sorely missing in the genre. I wish there were more games with this attention to detail and care put into them. 4.5/5
05/08/15 Finished the game with 97% completion. This was all the main quests and all, but one, of the most wanted side quests. The Riddler still roams free in Gotham because I ain’t going around picking up 243 trophies he’s stashed around the place. Arkham Knight is the last in Rocksteady’s Batman trilogy (Ignore City) and they have gone out on a high. This time Scarecrow is threatening Gotham with a new and improved Fear gas, backed up by the enigmatic Arkham Knight and his army. The storyline is excellent as Batman, dosed by the gas, slowly loses his mind. This is a darker story than the previous two games. Haunted by the image and voice of his arch nemesis he chases down the Scarecrow and Knight across the three islands of Gotham trying to stop a massive gas attack. Along the way you do side missions that pit you against Two Face, Penguin, Firefly and others. Most of the characters have been taken from the comics as usual, but the Knight is a new construct just for the game. Fans of the comics should be able to work out who is in the suit long before the end, but they game does a decent job of teasing his identity. Gameplay is familiar for fans of the first two games, grappling around the city, using familiar gadgets from the previous games. Dropping from rooftops and taking on dozens of bad guys who progressivly get harder as the games go on. The combat is as smooth as silk. Either in the straight fights chaining combos, countering and using gadgets mid fight, or in the predator stealth missions. You really feel just as much a bad ass when you pull off 20 or 30 combo moves as you do when sneaking around doing silent takedowns one at a time. The biggest change in gameplay this time is the Batmobile. They have widened the streets to allow you to bomb around the streets in this georgous car/tank. I was worried at first that this was going to dominate the game as for the first hour or so you use the car all the time. It was a big tutorial in it’s use, racing around the streets and with the touch of L1 the car morphs into a tank with a machine gun and cannon. This mose comes in useful for the large amount of drone tanks that the Arkham Knight has roaming the streets. While the car does take up a lot of the gameplay in the game I quickly started to love driving it and fighting using it. It is a lot of fun. Besides once past the first real mission the car becomes just another gadget that can be used or not. Sure it is required in some missions, but I didnt think it was over the top. I still grappled around the city when not required to drive. Graphically the game is georgous on the PS4 the rainy nighttime streets of Gotham as lit with neon, reflections in the water and some stunning cityscapes make for standing on top of building and staring at the scenery for clues fun. A fiting ending to a great trilogy. 5/5
09/08/15 This game was such a disapointment, even after paying about 1/3rd of the original price of the game. There is a bucket load of potential in the setting, the characters and the weapons of the game. Unfortunatly it is completely squandered. Too short and too linear was some of the complaints i’ve seen, but I don’t mind short linear games. What I do mind is the lack of shooting in my shooters, the lack of balance in the weapons, the lack of background and story to flesh out the world. Technically it’s a tour de force, the world is amazingly detailed with some of the best graphics you are likly to see on the PS4.It’s difficult to tell cut scene from the game and with no visible loading it is seemless when it switches. The character models are detailed and the animation is superb. It has a decent variety of locations from Palaces to Airships, all renderered at a very high standard. Unfortunatly it might explain why the game itself is forcing you into small areas with little to no exploration so as not to tax the processor. There are collectible to pick up, but they are not exactly hidden and what exactly was the point of picking up some of the items just to rotate them around and put them back, they dont seem related to the story in any way. It’s just as well that the graphics are so pretty as more than half the game involves you walking slowly through these locations seemingly unable to do anything but push forward on the stick as the developers take all weapon control off you. No shooting unless they say so. This lack of control is even more annoying in the forced stealth sequences that dont give you the option of doing anything else. Stealth kill or die you cant revert to shooting your way out of it. The rest of the game is a basic cover shooter. Hide behind short convient walls and shoot at enemies that stream towards you. There are a nice array of cool weapons to use, but it’s mostly pointless as the pistol is so overpowered that there is little need for the cooler weapons. I spent most of the game headshotting people with the pistol as it was accurate as fuck and they went down in one. Watch out for the sneaky shotgun guys though as they are annoying. Most of the enemies are humans, but on 3-4 occassions you fight werewolves (Lycans). Unfortunatly it’s the exact same fight over and over. Three lycans in a room take turns at running straight at you as you pump them full of lead then run up and stab them, repeat twice then on to the next battle. Bigger bosses are held for the glory that is the QTE. There are two main ones and they are more or less identical, the first one being a training mission for the longer end sequence. The story is a wasted potential. You had a world with an Order who live for hundreds of years(based on King Arthurs legends), werewolves, vampires (who you dont fight in the game), London at the height of the British empire, some great characters etc etc and it doesn’t seem to do anything with it and even leaves you hanging at the end and doesnt resolve much. It’s short, linear and wastes it’s potential. It’s also the easiest Platinum Trophy I have gotten making it pointless to play again. Glad I didn’t pay full price for it. 2.5/5
