Pass the Controller | Latest news, reviews and reviews in video games
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Community
  • About
    • Contact
    • Meet the Team
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Community
  • About
    • Contact
    • Meet the Team
>

Team Talk | What's your favourite boss battle?

22/8/2019

 
Team Talk | What's your favourite boss battle? - Pass the Controller

A teaser trailer for Gears 5's campaign premiered during Opening Night Live, giving us a brief look at the terrifying creatures we'll be taking on come September. This left us pondering the big set pieces in some of our favourite games.

Picture
by Chris Brand
Picture

@SuperCrisco

Picture
by Team PTC
Picture

@pass_controller

Chris | Psycho Mantis - Metal Gear Solid

The Metal Gear series is known for breaking the fourth wall but it was handled with such finesse that it increased immersion, rather than shattering it, and Psycho Mantis was the embodiment of that idea.

Upon meeting him for the first time in Metal Gear Solid, Mantis demonstrates his telekinetic chops by having you set the controller down so he can move it using the power of his mind. Arthur C. Clarke claimed that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic and, though this was clearly just the Dualshock rumbling its way across my floor, the magic was there.

He was also adept at reading minds, not only remarking on other Konami games saved on your memory card, but avoiding your attacks until you plugged the controller into the second port.

These small touches added to the enigma that is Psycho Mantis, ensuring that his first appearance wouldn't be his last, despite his untimely death at the hands of Solid Snake mere moments after their encounter.

​Whilst the actual fight itself is fairly standard, the buildup elevates Psycho Mantis to a level above his Foxhound peers.
Team Talk | What's your favourite boss fight? - Pass the Controller
This may look like someone used photos of Psycho Mantis to make a collage of Psycho Mantis, but in 1998 he was frightening.
Sam | Soul of Cinder - Dark Souls 3

In a series famed for its boss encounters - many of which see you face off against unspeakable, towering horrors - Dark Souls 3’s concluding encounter with the distinctly humanoid Soul of Cinder might seem like an underwhelming choice. 

Soul of Cinder is the game’s cover star, with everything from the moment you first set eyes on the game building towards the final battle; not just of Dark Souls 3, but the entire Dark Souls trilogy. A trilogy that’s one of my all-time favourites, beautifully brought full circle by an ending that mirrors and also furthers that of the first game.

I could mention the amazing original track that accompanies the fight, but then that’s nothing unique - the same applies to pretty much every Souls series boss fight. Without spoiling too much, the encounter is a sentimental one years in the making. Anyone that finished the original Dark Souls knows this character well, in both of their forms, thanks to the significant mid-fight phase changes introduced in this third entry.

You’re given a very literal taste of your own medicine by a character skilled in all distinctions, plus you can’t parry them, avoiding the encounter being trivialised as with the first game’s conclusion. You could summon a co-op buddy to help, but that’d just be wrong for such a personal duel.
Team Talk | What's your favourite boss fight? - Pass the Controller
You'll get no spoilers from us.
Liam | Moldorm - A Link to the Past

​Boss fights are usually all about learning patterns and memorising attacks, a deadly ballet where even the slightest misstep means failure. And then there’s Moldorm.


Moldorm, if you’re unfamiliar, is the worm-like creature with the disturbing eyes that can be found guarding the top of the Tower of Hera in A Link to the Past. Its attack - if you can call it that – is extremely simple; all it does is charge around its small arena bouncing off walls and edges, wiping out anything standing in its path. I’m not 100% convinced it’s even aware of what it’s doing, or that you’re even there, which raises several moral questions when it comes to ending it.

Despite only needing six hits to the tail for a victory, Moldorm was one of the more challenging bosses in ALTTP because it could knock you down to the floor below, forcing you to start the fight again from scratch.

I always enjoyed the chaotic mess that were these battles. Trying to avoid the wriggly bastard as it careened around like a headless chicken was a frantic and often hilarious experience, especially when you factor in the limited range of movement afforded by a SNES controller.
Team Talk | What's your favourite boss fight? - Pass the Controller
Again, the graphics don't really do Moldorm justice.
James | Saren - Mass Effect

The Mass Effect series made a splash on the Xbox 360 and it all began with the first game in 2007, ushering in a new era of story-driven RPG/action games.

One of the shining stars of the game was the antagonist and fallen Spectre, Saren Arterius, who sided with the original trilogy's big bad, the Reapers, to act as the Darth Vader of this sci-fi tale.

Like many compelling villains, he feels as though he's working for the greater good, enabling the Reapers to "reset" the galaxy by destroying the Mass Relays used to travel between star systems, a fate you must work through the entire trilogy to prevent.

Saren's fight goes through multiple stages, forcing you to call on the powers of your class to take him down, and in fact you can even avoid the first stage of the final fight altogether by convincing him he's possessed and so must take his own life.

The sort of depth to his character is atypical and your numerous interactions with him through the game, constantly trying to get him to see your perspective, only build the impact of the final showdown. Without it, there's no doubt the series as a whole wouldn't have had as much impact as it did.​
Team Talk | What's your favourite boss battle? - Pass the Controller
Saren was far more charismatic than anyone we encountered in Mass Effect: Andromeda.


Share your favourite boss battle with us in the comments below.
0 Comments

Team Talk | What will be the highlight at Gamescom 2019?

14/8/2019

 
Team Talk | What will be the highlight at Gamescom 2019? - Pass the Controller

​E3 has disappeared from the rear view mirror and the next stop in the 2019 gaming road map is Gamescom. With new content and announcements promised right from the get go during Opening Night Live (hosted by The Game Awards creator, Geoff Keighley), here's what we're looking forward to.

Picture
by Chris Brand

Picture

@SuperCrisco

Picture
by Team PTC

Picture

@pass_controller


​Chris | Marvel's Avengers

​
One of the standout games from Square's E3 briefing, Marvel's Avengers is ticking all the right boxes. A new singleplayer story, separate from the MHU, could prove to be even more engaging than the movies. Though the titular Avengers are the main draw, there's definite scope for developers Crystal Dynamics (supported by an Avengers-worthy team composed of Crystal Northwest, Eidos Montreal and Nixxes) to add some lesser known heroes and villains to the cast.

Even without any surprise cameos, this is still new territory. The heroes we've witnessed on the silver screen are not the same ones we'll take control of in game. Sure, their backstories are unlikely to diverge too much from the canonical lore but I'm going in with no expectations regarding the overarching narrative, in fact I'm even more excited to experience a different take on the characters I've grown to love.

Optional co-op side missions, a seemingly broad spectrum of character customisation options (of both stat-boosting and purely cosmetic varieties) and free updates are the icing on an already scrumptious looking cake.

May 2020 can't come soon enough.
Team Talk | What will be the highlight at Gamescom 2019? - Pass the Controller
Will the Avengers be bolstering their ranks?
Sam | Death Stranding

It’s been confirmed that Hideo Kojima will be taking a break from crunching on Death Stranding with the team at Kojima Productions, what with its 8 November release fast approaching, to join best buddy Geoff Keighley at Gamescom 2019’s Opening Night Live event.

Making the trip to the show, which takes place in Cologne, Germany, for the first time since 2014, it’s reasonable to assume that the former Metal Gear Solid director has big news regarding his latest project to share. It’d be about time, as Death Stranding remains shrouded in an air of mystery less than two months ahead of its PS4 release.

Long-term Team Talk readers may already know how devastating Silent Hills’ cancellation was for me, largely due to a collaboration between some of my favourite talents from multiple mediums - namely Kojima himself, film director Guillermo del Toro, and actor Norman Reedus - being wrestled from almost within my grasp. Now, albeit in a different form, that majorly mouth-watering meeting of masterminds is back on.

As such, I already know that you can count me in wherever Death Stranding is concerned, but I’d rather like to find out if the game really is about an incredibly devoted package delivery service assigning babies in jars as co-drivers...
Team Talk | What will be the highlight at Gamescom 2019? - Pass the Controller
Every image seems to reinforce that theory.
Liam | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s absence from the E3 public meant that my predication - along with pretty much every other guess I made - failed to come true. So, it’s up to Gamescom to get the hype train back on track after the summer’s minor derailment.

I was initially excited about the reboot following an announcement trailer in which we get our first glimpse of the grounded, modern day setting and a fresh-faced Captain Price (complete with his iconic boonie hat) but since then my enthusiasm has waned somewhat.

So far, I’ve seen nothing of the campaign and very little of the multiplayer, save for a brief round of Gun Game and a trailer that dropped earlier in the month. Whilst the latter started off well, highlighting new tactical abilities like being able to peak through doors before entering a room, it quickly descended into some trademark Call of Duty silliness.
​

I'm not totally against some over-the-top action, but I’m hoping that next week's show will present something similar in style and tone to the announcement trailer, especially if it includes a look at the campaign. Even if the final product is only half as good as the original Modern Warfare, I’ll still be satisfied.
Team Talk | What will be the highlight at Gamescom 2019? - Pass the Controller
War never changes, but it does look better each year.
James | Astral Chain

There are still quite a few games due to come out this year which we'll hear all about at Gamescom, but I feel fairly confident that none of them are quite like Astral Chain.

Platinum Games' latest jumped to the top of my Switch list after the Nintendo Direct at E3. The game comes from Takahisa Taura, who was previously lead game designer for Nier: Automata, and sees you fighting alien-like monsters from another dimension with help from your Legion, a powerful weapon who fights independently in combat.

Platinum is known for its slightly off-beat approach to action games, with Bayonetta, Vanquish and Neir under its belt, which has me thinking this could be one of the most original releases due out this year.

Better still, it's a Switch exclusive, so it has the best possible chance to be well-optimised and the gameplay shown off so far looks really impressive. Plus, with potentially all of what we'll see about Pokémon ahead of its release out of the bag, this is the Nintendo game that really tops the excitement-o-meter.

While it's not likely to make the biggest smash of the show (especially when some have the Hulk in their corner), it's an experience which is sure to be unlike anything else.​
Team Talk | What will be the highlight at Gamescom 2019? - Pass the Controller
Platinum Games' portfolio has us eager to see more.


Lets us know what you're most excited to see at Gamescom 2019 in the comments below.
0 Comments

Team Talk | Games nobody asked for

11/8/2019

 
Team Talk | Games nobody asked for - Pass the Controller

Last week an email popped into the PTC inbox informing us that Garfield Kart Furious Racing was coming to Xbox One, PS4, Switch and PC this November. For some reason, James saw this as an opportunity to pitch a Team Talk on games that nobody ever asked for… Not one to pass up a freebie, Sam ran with it and here we are.

Picture





by Sam Sant

Picture

@SlamShotSam


Picture



by Team PTC

Picture

@pass_controller


Sam | Diablo Immortal

Activision Blizzard’s mobile dungeon crawler isn’t even out yet, so, in the interest of fairness, I’ll say that it may be just what the doctor ordered. It’s impossible not to have the disastrous on-stage announcement spring to mind when this particular topic is raised, however.

Delivered to a captive audience of their most devout fans at Blizzcon 2018, the Diablo team visibly squirmed when the crowd booed the reveal that the latest iteration of their favourite franchise would be confined to mobile phones. Predictable as that reaction might be to you or I, apparently the angry response hadn’t been forecast, which serves to highlight just how out of touch Blizzard are.

Instead of ditching the Q&A segment thereafter, they soldiered on and made things even worse for themselves. YouTuber Dontinquire infamously asked if the reveal was an “out of season April Fools joke”, boldly voicing what most of the PC faithful in attendance and watching online were thinking, whilst their ill-conceived response to an inquiry on a potential PC port swiftly shot to meme superstardom.

Said response - “Do you guys not have phones?” - completely missed the point. They all did, and we all do, but nobody wants to engage with an inferior, free-to-play version of Diablo on a touchscreen device.
Things have been quiet since the game’s debut, which is understandable, given the trailer has 326K downvotes vs. 24K upvotes...
Chris | Needless yearly updates

I'd like to make it clear that I'm not cheating and picking every single sequel. There's a certain type of game that doesn't need a new release each year but gets one anyway. FIFA, NBA, NFL and the rest of EA's '19 series are probably the most advanced digital recreations of ball touching that have existed to date, yet there's not a great deal that separates them from their predecessors.

It isn't just sport sims or EA, Infinity Ward are obviously not looking to break the mould with Call of Duty '19: Modern Warfare, Again. An argument could be made that any big changes in the franchise are often met with resistance, potentially hurting sales, though this feels too much like blaming ourselves.

We don't always know what we want until it's right in front of us, so developers shouldn't be afraid of thinking outside the box every now and then. Ubisoft's reboot of Assassin's Creed was a resounding success which breathed new life into a series that, for many, had grown stale. Whilst there's not much chance of FIFA being rebooted in the same manner, there's very little on offer that we haven't already seen.

Team Talk | Games nobody asked for - Pass the Controller
Can you tell which iteration of FIFA this is?
James | Garfield Kart Furious Racing

When the news that Garfield already has his own kart racing game reached me this week, and not only that but we're getting a sequel in November, I was perplexed. I'm partial to a kart racer (as I've mentioned in a previous Team Talk) and on the surface I don't think it's fair that Mario gets a monopoly on them, but I mean...come on now, Garfield?!

The lasagne-loving feline jumped back into pop culture in 2004 with the almost certainly dreadful movie (which I did not see), and 9 years and a number of cash-ins later, the game to truly capitalise on/sell out the character - Garfield Kart - was released on iOS, Android, Steam and 3DS.

With the remake of Crash Team Racing out and performing well, an alternative to Mario Kart is there for you already, and even Sonic Team Racing feels like it earns its place with a few unique mechanics.

Most importantly of all, a kart racer needs characters, and, while Mario Kart 8 Deluxe takes the kick on this a bit, Garfield alone does not a compelling roster of players make.
Team Talk | Games nobody asked for - Pass the Controller
Here we see Garfield, surrounded by all of the memorable characters from the franchise.
Liam | Angry Birds Star Wars

It’s fair to say that most game concepts are so bizarre it would be a bit of stretch to expect people to even think them up, let alone ask for them.

Take Super Mario, for example. Before it came into existence, I'd wager that no-one was going about their day thinking, “You know what I need in my life? A game about an Italian plumber stamping giant turtles to death in a land inhabited by mushroom people."

Angry Birds falls under the same category. In any other industry, pitching the idea of slinging kamikaze birds at pigs with giant catapults is more likely to get you a very awkward meeting with the HR department instead of a multi-million selling, movie-spawning game series.

Even if the original concept of murdering pigs with birds was already lurking in the deep, dark recesses of someone’s mind, I highly doubt they had the foresight to blend it with George Lucas’ iconic space opera.
​

Yet, that’s exactly what Rovio did when they came up with Angry Birds Star Wars, which, to this day, remains the strangest franchise crossover I’ve ever played.
Team Talk | Games nobody asked for - Pass the Controller
The Force is not very strong with this one.


Which game's simple existence most baffles you? Let us know below! 
0 Comments

Taken for a Quickie | Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden - Seed of Evil

9/8/2019

 
Taken for a Quickie | Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden - Seed of Evil - Pass the Controller

Following a recent game update rectifying accessibility issues on Xbox One, we were finally able to dive back into the unique stealth and XCOM-like combat of Mutant Year Zero for an all-new adventure in the Seed of Evil expansion.

Picture





by Sam Sant

Picture

@SlamShotSam


Picture
Developer: The
Bearded Ladies

Publisher: Funcom
​Platforms: Xbox One,
PS4, PC

​Players: 1
Hold up. Can you elaborate on those issues?

The game wouldn’t initially recognise that the DLC was owned for us and many others, making it inaccessible. That’s now been remedied, but you’ll have to finish the main campaign (hopefully you still have a save file conveniently close-by) in order to transition straight in, as the option to launch Seed of Evil directly from the main menu remains absent.

What’s worse is that when you do gain entry to the new expansion, it’s plagued by frequent crashes and full console shutdowns. These can occur during cutscenes, completely cutting you off from certain story beats by placing you after the scene’s conclusion once you return to the game. The same doesn't appear to be the case with the PC version, so we found ourselves scrubbing through YouTube Let’s Plays in order to get the full picture...

Ouch! Other than all the technical issues, what’s new?

Seed of Evil picks up where the main game’s cliffhanger ending left off, whilst introducing a new threat in suffocating roots which have overtaken the apocalyptic safe haven known as the Ark, in addition to its uninhabited surrounding areas in the wilderness known as the Zone.

You’ll kit yourself out with new weapons, armour and character upgrades - plus recruit a fire-breathing, ground-pounding moose called Big Khan (great for crowd control) - in order to combat your party of Stalkers’ biggest threat yet.

In addition to the main story taking place across several new areas, there are five optional side quests tasking you with returning to previous locations where fresh sets of enemies now reside. All in all, there’s about six more hours of excellent exploration, stealth and tactical combat to engage with if you can brave the technical shortcomings.
So you would still recommend SoE for MYZ: RtE fans?

That’s a tough one, honestly. We loved revisiting the rich gameplay and setting, but the shambolic technical state that Seed of Evil finds itself in on Xbox One is frankly unacceptable.

It doesn’t completely wrap everything up with a neat little bow, which in a way fits the fiction, but otherwise it’s more of a great thing - when it works. If you’re looking to play on another platform, this is a good way to invest £12.99, but Xbox fans should definitely wait with crossed fingers for a significant patch.
0 Comments


    Read More

    News
    Reviews
    Videos

    Comment Here

    Categories

    All
    A Gamer's Guide To Life
    Community
    E3 2018
    Event Coverage
    Feature
    First Impressions/Quick Look
    Head To Head
    Indie
    Interview
    List
    Opinion
    Preview
    Real Life Story
    Team Talk
    Video
    Virtual Reality


    Archives

    April 2025
    March 2025
    January 2025
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015


    RSS Feed

Pass the Controller

News
Reviews
Features
​
Videos
Community
About

What is PTC

About Us
​Meet the Team
​
Contact Us
Find our reviews on:
  • OpenCritic
  • vrgamecritic
© COPYRIGHT 2014-2022 PTC / JMP.
​ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.