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Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King | Nintendo Switch | Review

23/12/2017

 
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When Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King first came to our attention earlier in the year, we immediately thought Castle Pixel’s homage to the top-down Zelda games of the past would be a natural fit for the Switch. As it turns out, Nintendo agree, snapping up the retro inspired action-adventure as a console exclusive.

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by Liam
​Andrews

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​@liam_andrews5

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Developer: Castle Pixel
Publisher: FDG Entertainment
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC
Players: 1

In case you missed our previous take, Blossom Tales is a game set in a fantasy Kingdom in which the protagonist, Lily, a newly appointed Knight of the Rose, must defeat the evil wizard Crocus who has placed a curse on the King in a bid to seize power for himself.
 
The game basically plays out as an ode to the classic Zelda title A Link to the Past (retro visuals and all) with Lily tasked with collecting the ingredients needed to wake the King from a number of dungeons, each of which feature various puzzles, enemies and unique settings, from a zombie infested mountain peak to Orc ridden wastelands.
 
Despite its obvious inspiration, Blossom Tales has enough character, charm and unique features that help set it apart from the source material. Genre staples such as the bow, boomerang and bombs all draw their power from a green meter at the top of the screen rather than a limited pool of ammunition, and the game’s narrator, an elderly Grandpa, is able to introduce new obstacles on the fly at certain points depending on how his Grandkids think Lily’s adventure should pan out.

The lack of an open mission tab means side quests can easily end up forgotten, but exploring the different lands and stumbling upon new challenges and hidden secrets is arguably part of the fun, and the rewards offered for completing them aren’t essential to the core gameplay or story, at least the ones we came across anyway.
Blossom Tales is an easy recommendation on Switch; a charming, colourful, and, most importantly, fun, title that feels right at home on a Nintendo system.
So, how does it fare on Switch? Having originally played Blossom Tales on a basic laptop that, while capable of running the game, probably wasn’t the optimal platform to best enjoy it on, reliving Lily’s adventure on Nintendo’s hybrid console was an absolute blast, particularly in handheld mode, where we spent the majority of our playthrough.
 
Seeing Blossom Tale’s world brought to life in the palm of your hands looks and feels great; colours are bright and punchy, and, despite the game’s tendency to pack the screen with large numbers of enemies at the same time, the Switch version puts in a decent performance, holding a steady framerate in all but the most chaotic of boss fights. Despite an impressive console debut there were some slight, platform-specific issues that cropped up during our time with the game.
 
The HD rumble, an exclusive feature for the Switch version, didn’t really feel like it added much to gameplay and became noticeably irritating after a while due to its intensity, while the default button layout also felt like it could have been better optimised, with the Y and A buttons feeling much better suited for item use than the standard setup which saw X and B allocated the task.
These were both minor issues, however, easily solved with a bit of tweaking in the menus and didn’t detract from the overall experience in any meaningful way, plus the boons of the Switch, particularly flexibility, means it still feels like the best way to enjoy the game.
 
Being able to pick up and play at any time, almost anywhere, is something that no other platform can offer, and Blossom Tales isn’t a title that’s taxing on the Switch’s battery, meaning it’s possible to leave it in sleep mode, walk away for a few hours, and return to find there’s still plenty of game time left in your console.
 
Clocking in at around 15 hours to complete, and with a price tag of just £13.49 / €14.99 / $14.99, Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King is an easy recommendation on Switch; a charming, colourful, and, most importantly, fun, title that feels right at home on a Nintendo system.
 
Pros

  • Classic Zelda-esque gameplay, but with a few unique twists
  • Charming visual presentation and characters
  • Catchy soundtrack
  • Feels perfectly suited for the Switch
 
Cons

  • HD rumble is too intense
  • Default button optimisation could have been better
  • No quest management menu

9/10
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Vostok Inc. | Nintendo Switch | Review

15/12/2017

 
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Everyone likes money. Making a game hopelessly obsessed with it, focusing on grabbing as much of it as possible, seems like a simple enough idea. Vostock Inc. combines a space exploration experience with a simple, Monopoly-esque construction sim to create a game with a wider variety of experiences compared to your usual idle clicker.

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by
James
Michael
​Parry

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​@james_parry

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Developer: Nosebleed Interactive
Publisher: Wired Productions
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PS4, PS Vita, PC
Players: 1

You are the new CEO of the titular Vostok Inc., on a mission to make as much Moolah (that’s cash to you and me) as possible by exploring planetary systems and building different installations on planets. As time ticks by, the money starts rolling in, and the more you invest in your buildings and upgrades, the higher that number will go - spiraling in the later game into the trillions, quintillions and even septillions (that’s 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, but who’s counting?)

The result is that at first upgrades and buildings come fairly easily, just a few hundred Moolah for a single building, but the more you buy on each planet, the more the price spirals out of control as you continue to invest in pursuit of higher profits. As a result, it pays to spread your dosh around, exploring the various solar systems.
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You’ll begin in Sol, our local system, complete with Pluto - reinstated as a planet officially as an exclusive for the Switch version - before branching out to the likes of Vent and Voltimus. Each system has its own set of baddies, which share some basic archetypes of enemies to blast but all have an individual manner and design, be it terrifying Terminator-esque robots, animals seemingly neglected after being sent to space, or bizarre-looking fish monsters.

The dialogue with these races is handled by Jimmy, your go-to-guy, who has some amusing (and unashamedly British) exchanges with the various inhabitants. He also acts as your source of hints and tips, but you can always mute these if you’d rather not be distracted once you’ve got to grips with things.

The game has been available since the summer for Xbox One, PS4, PC and Vita, but only the latter has offered the handheld experience which the title feels particularly well-suited for. On Switch, of course, you have the flexibility of home or on-the-go use, and while the game looks and performs well on the big screen, there’s little benefit other than not having to keep an eye on the console to ensure it doesn’t go to sleep, as the money slowly ticks up.
While you wait, there’s the twin-stick shooter aspect of the game, which can be a bit more of a mixed bag than the polished balance of the Moolah-making. You can take out asteroids and crates in space for bonuses, save managers and executives for bonuses, or even take on huge enemy bosses for, you guessed it, bonuses - generally in the form of lots and lots of yellow pieces which your tiny ship can lap up and add to your total.

Enemies spawn a little too frequently at times, sometimes appearing before the graphic congratulating you for defeating a big baddie has even left the screen, but this feels like a deliberate attempt to keep you playing and striving on to the next challenge, rather than a lapse in design.

A few times we’ve found ourselves taking massive damage by being physically stuck between two enemies and bouncing between them at high speed. Fortunately, if you should blow up all is not lost, you have a tiny life pod (which can also protect any executives you’ve collected) that’ll offer some protection as you scatter back to the Motherbase for the system to regain health. Even being destroyed completely only chops away a swathe of the cash you have on you, rather than having any long-lasting implications.

​To defend yourself you’ll need to use one of the game’s colourful weapons, which range from a simple machine gun to a laser unicorn attack squad and graviton aperture gun. In practice, merely upgrading the weapon you get on best with works for most encounters, providing you have the dexterity to keep mobile, and providing you invest money now and again, the enemies are rarely overwhelming.


If that wasn’t enough to keep you busy, there’s also plenty of upgrades to Motherbase, your ship and your radar, which can certainly make your life easier - depending on what your priorities are - and there’s the aforementioned executives to look after. These overpaid fat cats (well, one of them literally is a cat lady) are only around to boost your productivity, but they’ll need to be furnished with lavish gifts to be kept happy and let you reap the rewards.
Vostok Inc. consistently punches above its weight, giving compelling gameplay and humour without layering in unnecessary systems and cluttering the experience.
Each has their own personalised 8-bit mini game, varying from driving sims to first-person shooters to Flappy Bird clones, which give you the opportunity to pick up these items, but most are pretty challenging, so you’re better off obliterating a few enemies and asteroids instead. The games themselves are a welcome distraction though, and fill out what is, on the surface, quite a basic experience.

Whether this is a game for you will depend on how you like to play. It’s at its best with a degree of passiveness and patience, waiting for the money total to tick up so you can grab that upgrade before you dash downstairs for dinner. Passing the time before bedtime with the game was initially an exercise in real-world stealth, as destroying asteroids and creating buildings set off the Switch’s overzealous rumble, putting the good night’s sleep of significant others everywhere in jeopardy, but fortunately there is an option to turn this off hidden in one of the multiple options menus.

For something which might look like it only belongs on a mobile phone at first glance, Vostok Inc. consistently punches above its weight, giving compelling gameplay and humour without layering in unnecessary systems and cluttering the experience. The later game may feel more drawn out, as everything takes longer to happen and you’ve explored all of the six systems available, but the thirst for more and more money is strangely addictive - but hopefully in a fun way, rather than the more negative real-world consequences… Without a doubt, for the price (£12.99), this is one well worth snapping up.

​Pros
​
  • Well designed adventure built on a simple idea
  • Far more depth and variety than meets the eye
  • Charming art style, charismatic presentation and humour impress

Cons
​
  • Time starts to drag out towards the end as costs inevitably rise
  • Enemies spawn near-constantly, even after a boss is defeated
  • Boss battles themselves feel basic

9/10
Comment
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Crossout | Xbox One | Review

14/12/2017

 
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The one thing better than a car is a car with massive guns strapped to it. We’ve learned from experience that it isn’t always easy to turn this delicious concept into a game however, as the N64 and PlayStation era brought the dizzying heights of Vigilante 8 as well as the cynical, cash-grabbing lows of 007 Racing. Most recently, you might recall elements of the concept in Mad Max or even Borderlands 2 to an extent, but other than World of Tanks - a far more realistic take on vehicular warfare - the market for this experience is far from saturated.

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 by​
James
Michael
​Parry

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@James_Parry

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Developer: Targem
Games
Publisher: Gaijin
Entertainment
Platforms: Xbox One,
PlayStation 4, PC
Players: 1- 16
Theoretically a strong direction for relatively unknown developer Targem
Games to take their concept and run with it then. Rather than opting for a narrative-driven approach, which Vigilante 8 did to great effect, Crossout is styled as an MMO, encouraging players to work together to tackle objectives against enemy AI and players.

Visually, the game isn't a lot to write home about, generally being on par with other independant titles which attempt a realistic aesthetic. Vehicles still have a distinctly videogame feel though, rather than microscopically true-to-life, and it fits the bill well. Whilst adequate, given the game's status in beta, the presentation is helped by Xbox One X enhancement, which adds some stability even when things get hectic to ensure everything runs fairly smoothly, bar the odd jitter caused by network issues.

Taking a leaf out of Banjo Kazooie: Nuts ‘n’ Boltz’s book, players begin with a smattering of level 1 parts and a basic pick-up truck to get to work on customising. The short tutorial sees you grab a machine gun to mount on your bonnet (or hood, depending on where this finds you) and from there you gradually unlock more parts and sprays to tweak your vehicle however you see fit.

Given that this is a free to play game, and in beta, you should set your expectations accordingly. The Xbox Store itself is where you’ll find a handful of things to splash out on, whether that’s in-game coins or specific, pre-made vehicles. There are also fan-made machines at which to marvel in the game’s exhibition, and even download as blueprints, but, though you can view a list, there doesn’t seem to be an easy way to buy or get hold of all the parts you need to actually make a blueprint a physical reality - at least not without going through the time consuming process of manually searching for ingredients on the market.
Other than World of Tanks - a far more realistic take on vehicular warfare - the market for this experience is far from saturated.
Creativity is definitely encouraged in the process, though. The garage and its array of possibilities can be quite overwhelming; even though the controls are constantly in view at the top of the screen, it takes some time to get to grips with the interface, and it’s particularly challenging to work out what each component is until you start throwing them together.

As you begin to level up and the array of jigsaw pieces widens, there’s also the introduction of factions to account for. These require a certain amount of reputation to unlock, and give less traditional design options, such as combining features of aeroplanes and vintage cards, in the specific case of the Nomads.

On the battlefield, the variety on offer starts to show itself, and immediately the priorities for building become more apparent. Specifically, vehicle damage is quite substantial, to the extent that wheels and complete parts of your vehicle may fall off if you take too much punishment, or too specific a ramming from your adversaries.

Wheels are a particularly weak link, leaving you beached and motionless or simply spinning in a circle if you aren’t careful, though this is also an Achilles’ heel you can use against enemies. If you’re feeling particularly adventurous you may ditch wheels altogether and go for a hovering vehicle instead, but bear in mind that they’re incredibly hard to control, though traditional vehicles aren’t exactly a walk in the park either.
On the battlefield, the variety of customisation options on offer starts to show itself, and immediately the priorities for building become apparent.
Whatever your approach, taking on missions requires the use of fuel, a limiting factor to the game that’ll ask you to wait 24 hours to refill your tank, or speed the process up through microtransactions. This seeming sharp edge is blunted when you consider the cost in in-game currency is low and can be earned by selling excess parts, however. The missions themselves refresh each day, to give a bit of variety - though they stick to fairly basic archetypes like escort or attack and defend - and are level locked to give you a fighting chance.

In all the game is a solid starting point for a beta, if lacking in character and richness of world, despite a nicely done intro cinematic which is rare these days. You might get more of a narrative pull in other titles, though how much that bothers you really comes down to personal preference. Strong potential is a good starting point for an unknown newcomer like this, and the gradual approach of rolling it out means that you aren’t generally left waiting for a game for minutes on end and, more importantly, there’s a bit of fun to be had once you’re there, assuming you don’t mind putting up with the odd rogue player
Pros

  • Simple concept with a solid foundation
  • ​Variety of vehicles to construct is near endless
  • Free to get started

Cons

  • Patience required to keep playing for free
  • Construction in general is a lot to take in
  • Looks and feels fairly basic

Verdict
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0 Comments

Hand of Fate 2 | Xbox One | Review

8/12/2017

 
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Filled with the genre-blending goodness that propelled the original to cult classic status, Hand of Fate 2 is equal parts dungeon crawling RPG, collectable card game, board game, and interactive Choose Your Own Adventure novel. You sit opposite the enigmatic Dealer, who, fittingly, lays bare your fate with his hand of tarot cards.

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by Sam Sant

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@SlamShotSam


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Developer: Defiant
Development

Publisher: Defiant
​Development

​Platforms: Xbox One,
PS4, PC
​Players: 1
As mystery cards from a deck of your design are dealt face-down onto the tabletop, you move a player token between them, revealing and tackling the unique tasks they each pose in the process. You do so with the aim of reaching and besting a culminating boss encounter, 22 of which place the exclamation points on the self-contained stories that comprise Hand of Fate 2’s larger narrative.

Intentionally light on that front, the game opts simply to pose a variety of scenarios and leave you to carve your own path through them, which, coupled with some evocative penmanship (despite the final script needing another proofread), makes each campaign engaging and memorable in its own right.

Rewinding just a tad, there’s plenty to consider before you set foot on an adventure. Though you can automatically generate your deck, consisting of companion, encounter, equipment and supply cards (all fairly self-explanatory), taking the time to craft a considered deck befitting the challenge at hand pays dividends. After the five introductory challenges things very quickly get quite difficult, so you'll want to devote a good chunk of time to pre-production, lest you live to regret it an hour later when you die and get sent right back there.
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You don’t get to choose every card on the board however, injecting an element of unpredictability and preventing players giving themselves the same cushy set-up ad nauseum. That tactic isn’t too valuable anyway, as implementing new cards into your deck and meeting them in the wild is the only way to discover their attributes, good or bad, and gain access to their ‘sequels’. The inherent risk is most definitely worth taking in order to gain access to - and glean vital information from - cards that are necessary to building the perfect deck for any given situation.

Cards in hand, you’ll soon encounter the game’s suite of luck-based mini-games that serve as traditional skill checks. The odds can be tipped in your favour, provided you’ve brought the right loadout, but if you’re averse to random chance playing any part in your success or failure, consider this a warning.
The game poses a variety of scenarios and leaves you to carve your own path through them, which, coupled with some evocative penmanship, makes each campaign engaging and memorable in its own right.
With freedom of approach often comes the ability to avoid them, though in dodging potential disaster you also decline potential boons. Valuable rewards include food, fame, gold and equipment, all of which can individually be integral to your continued survival.

Any weapons and armour you might gather are put to use in the game’s basic combat sections, which jarringly pull you out of your cosy sit-down with the Dealer into stripped-back, Batman Arkham-style brawls. A range of enemy types are each susceptible to different weapon classes, adding some variety that helps to invigorate things, but HUD elements that telegraph when it’s time to dodge or counter mostly make battles a breeze. Being heavily outnumbered is the one scenario you can’t approach as par for the course, as being flanked and surrounded proves intense when you consider that health is persistent and taking damage can carry very real, far-reaching consequences.

Naturally, that makes eating an axe to the mush as a result of a distracting performance dip all the more annoying. Even on Xbox One X with the settings switched from default to favour performance over resolution, Hand of Fate 2 doesn’t always run smoothly, which is somewhat baffling considering the game’s small environments and nothing-to-write-home-about visuals.
Though Hand of Fate 2 doesn’t do a huge amount in the way of innovating over its predecessor, Defiant Development have refined its winning formula, which is hard to take issue with. The game combines numerous complex systems into a cohesive and accessible whole that could well serve as a gateway into real-world tabletop gaming for many. Its tough choices prompt pause for thought and weave memorable stories that are compelling enough to keep you ploughing through, while also being self-contained and convenient to dip in and out of on a whim.

Pros

  • Cohesively melds a range of genres
  • Create your own stories, made memorable by the game withholding a level of control
  • Scenarios feel significantly different from one another
  • In-depth deck building
  • Lots of game here for your money

Cons

  • Derivative, tepid combat generally isn’t worth pulling you out of the engaging tabletop experience
  • Quite possible to lose a lot of progress to dumb luck
  • Distracting performance issues, even on Xbox One X

8/10
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Tannenberg | Steam Early Access | Review

7/12/2017

 
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Tannenberg is the latest First World War-set online shooter from the makers of Verdun, bringing realistic historical combat to the fore on Steam once again, only this time, M2H and Blackmill Games are leaving behind the crater-ridden trenches of the Western Front and taking players to the relatively unexplored battlefields of Eastern Europe.

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by Liam
Andrews

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​@liam_andrews5

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Developers: M2H, Blackmill Games
Publishers: M2H, Blackmill Games
Platform: Steam
Players: 1 - 64


A standalone expansion rather than full-blown sequel, Tannenberg incorporates many of the features – both good and bad - that garnered Verdun a cult following on Steam, while also introducing a number of new ones that help improve the player experience whilst retaining the authentic wartime action the WW1 Game Series is known for.
 
By moving things east, M2H and Blackmill have been able to leave behind the relatively restrictive nature of trench warfare and introduce larger, freer flowing battles in Tannenberg’s main mode, Maneuver, that not only increases the player count to 64, but, the game reliably informs us, typified the sort of conflict fought between the Central Powers and Russian-led Entente forces on this front.
 
To keep the large-scale battles feeling just that, bots have been introduced (complete with region appropriate names) to fill in the gaps on either side whenever a human presence is lacking. Like Verdun before it, Tannenberg is a niche game with a relatively small following, and there are going to be times when there just aren’t enough bodies around to fill a server.
 
While a bot will never truly replicate the unpredictability and resulting challenge that human opposition offers, it was pleasantly surprising to find that Tannenberg’s AI soldiers weren’t completely useless, and were even able to best us on more than a few occasions. Having seen first-hand how a lack of players effectively rendered Verdun unplayable on Xbox One, the inclusion of bots in Tannenberg is not only welcome, but necessary, given the larger maps and numbers need to occupy them.
The four maps on offer - East Prussia, Poland, Carpathians and Galicia - may seem a little stingy by today’s standards, especially with the developers stating that the game is content complete despite still being in Early Access, but each one is vast and most incorporate a variety of landscapes, from dense pine forests and grassy fields to more fortified areas. They also utilise alternate weather and time of day effects as a way of achieving more mileage.
 
It’s a simple method, but one that works; playing one map in a blanket of snow and grey skies only to go again a few rounds later in bright sunshine feels like two very different experiences, while some weather patterns, such as the vision limiting nature of heavy fog, can even impact upon gameplay, changing the way you approach battles, especially in Maneuver.
 
Of the three game modes on offer in Tannenberg, Maneuver is by far the most popular, with the game’s other two modes - Rifle Deathmatch and Attrition - unable to match the level of tactical play and the thrilling scale of warfare on offer in the former, thanks in part to smaller maps and lower player counts.
Tannenberg feels like a step forward for the series, albeit not a giant one.
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Unlike Verdun’s Frontlines mode, which saw both sides competing in a tug of war match over a single control point at a time, Maneuver has players battling it out over multiple sectors and control points spread over the mode’s large maps. The idea is to outflank the opposition by encircling occupied sectors, cutting off the enemy’s headquarters and leaving it vulnerable to a game-ending capture.
 
This is a big ask however, as controlling all or enough sectors to capture the enemy HQ is surprisingly difficult, and more often than not victories are achieved through attrition rather than any tactical genius. Both teams begin each match with a set number of points that can only be reduced by capturing and holding the most sectors, meaning playing the objective is essential if you want to end up on the winning side.
 
Most maps are made up of between 9 and 12 sectors, with each of those (save for the main and often most contested one in the middle of the map) offering some sort of bonus for the team that captures it. These include being able to call in a recon plane that spots any enemies caught underneath its flight path, ammo dumps for resupplying and artillery strikes, the latter of which can be particularly devastating, especially considering there’s no protection afforded to those who have just respawned into an area that’s being bombarded.
The lack of spawn protection is one of the game’s biggest drawbacks, and an issue that’s exacerbated by the developer’s commitment to recreating an authentic wartime experience with the one-hit-kill nature of weapons. Getting picked off from afar by an unseen enemy when carelessly sprinting across open ground is one thing, but being dropped after respawning in a ‘safe’ area is incredibly frustrating, and something that happens far too often.
 
Despite this, Tannenberg remains an incredibly enjoyable and different online shooter, and though it was disappointing to see Verdun’s less-than-clear progression system once again in play here, as well as the game’s insistence on relying on players’ goodwill to ensure teams are evenly balanced, Tannenberg still feels like a step forward for the series, albeit not a giant one.
 
Pros

  • More authentic, tactical WWI combat
  • Bots ensure matches are always full
  • Large scale maps
  • Maneuver mode encourages tactical play

Cons

  • Rifle Deathmatch and Attrition modes are largely ignored
  • Progression system could be clearer
  • Spawn killing is a constant issue
  • Relies on players to ensure teams are balanced

Verdict
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0 Comments

The Surge: A Walk in the Park DLC | Xbox One | Review

6/12/2017

 
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The Surge’s suffocatingly dark and claustrophobic maze of interiors made for a nightmarish setting that was arguably the star of the show. Continuing that trend, A Walk in the Park places it’s fantastical and fresh theme park at the fore to draw fans of the action role-playing game back into the fold.

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by Sam Sant

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@SlamShotSam


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Developer: Deck13
Interactive
Publisher: Focus Home
Interactive
​Platforms: Xbox One,
PS4, PC
​Players: 1
Unfortunately, accessing this four hour expansion proved to be a bit of a headache. A Walk in the Park is embedded into the main game and accessed through either the Central Production B or Research & Development areas, which means you’ll either need to progress to, or, more dauntingly, remember your way back to one of them these six months later without an in-game map. While it’s nice that the DLC so seamlessly slots into place, undoubtedly complementing new playthroughs nicely, due to the fact you’ll discover it naturally, that process is much less streamlined for players deep into the experience that’ll need to specifically look to trigger their new content.

The delay in reaching CREO World had us like impatient children on the backseat drive to Disneyland, but the hardship was worth facing. While not a wholly original concept, the lighthearted location is enticing - especially around the festive season - in providing a welcome break from an otherwise largely bleak game. The colourful, bright and breezy outdoor area brims with creativity, really popping on a 4K screen in collaboration with the Xbox One X, thanks to visual enhancement and the implementation of HDR.

If that sounds like too big a departure, don’t worry, as there’s a definite tinge of the macabre throughout. A grimy underbelly more in keeping with the aesthetic of the main game also connects surface areas, producing an intertwined, looping level design full of secrets and shortcuts that are joyous to uncover.

CREO World should be a place for the megacorporation’s employees and their families to get some R&R, but it’s now almost exclusively home to malfunctioning animatronics and crazed co-workers. You’ll utilise the same weighty and visceral combat system to dispatch them - the many nuances of which quickly came flooding back - strategically tearing off limbs to discover and craft modular elements for three new gear sets, as well as four outlandish and oversized mascot heads.

In doing so your overall goal is, ironically, to search for and rescue any surviving members of a Search & Rescue team. Collectable audio logs fill in missing elements
of The Surge’s wider narrative along the way, but, ultimately, they serve to change the story’s course and send you on a more befitting comic book caper that culminates in an encounter with superhero Iron Maus’ arch rival.
The lighthearted location is enticing - especially around the festive season - in providing a welcome break from an otherwise largely bleak game.
Two boss battles help to offset the lack of big bads in the main game, though the first is as bog standard as they come and both are, arguably, too easy. A Walk in the Park lives up to its name for the most part, with easily telegraphed enemies and frequent healing opportunities hardly taxing returning veterans at all.

An abundant supply of high level implants to gather and a new drone attack further tip the odds in your favour, though swapping out an existing, upgraded weapon for one of 16 new additions - amongst them a flaming candy cane staff (!) - will help to stop you steamrolling the competition, should a high level of challenge be something you wish to preserve.
While A Walk in the Park won’t quite scratch the same masochistic itch as the base game, its lighter tone and less demanding nature are just the ticket this time of year and see the add-on dodge merely feeling like more of the same. In managing to juggle this with remaining loyal to The Surge’s core tenants, the £11.99 asking price is one that everybody with a copy of the game should consider.

Pros

  • Makes for a great change of pace & scenery
  • Fun, creative enemy & level design
  • Stays true to itself despite being quite a big departure
  • Lots of new gear to carry over to the main game
  • Slots seamlessly into the main game...

Cons

  • … Though can be a pain to uncover as a result
  • Perhaps too lacking in the game’s signature level of challenge
  • The first boss is incredibly uninspired & sticks out like a sore thumb

8/10
0 Comments

Ashes Cricket | PS4 | Review

5/12/2017

 
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There’s no doubt about it: the Ashes is the biggest spectacle in the world of leather-on-willow, yes-we-have-a-break-for-tea, professional cricket. Step forward Don Bradman Cricket dev Big Ant Studios (they’re Aussies - we’ll try not to hold that against them…), for their first foray into the light of a - at least partially - licensed sports game, with the creatively titled Ashes Cricket.

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​by Rob
​Holt

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@acousticmagic

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Developer: Big Ant Studios
Publisher: Koch Media
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Players: 1 - 4
Big Ant only released Don Bradman Cricket 17 - the disappointing follow-up to their initial effort with DBC14 - eleven months ago, so it’d be sensible to presume that they haven’t spent the time required in the nets to drastically alter proceedings. Being sensible never did anyone any good, mind, so it’s with huge bat-raising joy we can tell ye: Ashes ranks as one of the finest cricket games ever made.

The improvements burst forward from the outset, with massively upgraded presentation greeting you, alongside the first look at the photo-realistic player models (for both the men's and women's squads). The simple, clean tiles and improved music present the usual Big Ant array of options (career, tour, single match, online, academy creator) alongside the showstopping Ashes mode.

Those of you who did pick up DBC17 will see noticeable improvements once the first match loads. Everything looks more authentic, from the beautifully rendered officially licensed Ashes stadiums (The Gabba, Adelaide Oval, MCG, SCG and WACA), to the length of the grass, to the state of the pitch. ​

​Leading from the front are the those photo-realistic player faces, on which every bit of designer stubble - for the men! - or pore is intact. They’ve even managed to patch in the more left-field team selections (Tim Paine, James Vince et al), too, resulting in truly credible visuals for such a modest budget. Big cricket fans will also notice that certain players have had their batting stances perfectly mimicked, too - look out for Steve Smith’s crabby posture as you run in to blow his head off!
In a bid to reach a wider audience, Big Ant has implemented two separate control systems; Classic (from DBC) uses the analogue sticks to control foot movement and bat, then line and length when bowling, whilst Standard primarily utilises button presses, with the left stick used to aim in a more arcadey set-up.

The latter is great for an introduction, but you’ll find batting becomes ridiculously easy (Big Ant’s cricket games are usually hardcore in their difficulty) with balls often sailing over the fence. We scored at at least 10 runs per over in every test match we played using standard batting controls, with a lowest team total of 369 all out, and that was on the hardest difficulty setting... Comparatively, getting the same total on DBC17 on easy difficulty took a lot of patience and luck.
What fun it is to have your whole team scream "OWZAT?" at the press of a button.
When it comes to bowling, the simple button press set-up of the Standard control method certainly helps with accuracy, so we'd suggest giving it an extended go before switching to the analogue stick-led Classic controls.

The final - and perhaps most welcome - addition to this edition of virtual cricket is the excellent use of motion capture. DBC17 had some hideous animations for certain strokes (cut shot, we’re looking at you), and every bowler delivered the ball in the exact same way. Well, this is no longer the case, as Big Ant has enlisted the help of Australian stars like Glenn Maxwell, to ensure that batting is more fluid and picturesque, and bowling is more convincing.
There are welcome returns too with the lovely catching mechanic - a sort of QTE event where you match a reticule up with the moving ball to complete the catch - user-controlled appealing (what fun it is to have your whole team scream “OWZAT?” at the press of a button…), robust academy creation suite (players, teams, logos, stadia), and the career mode time-sink. The latter is especially splendid, as you take your player from club cricket all the way to Ashes glory, giving the game massive longevity.

Unfortunately though, it’s not all good news for Big Ant. Bugs and glitches are a bit of a  problem here; fielders warp randomly into place, pitch cracks vanish sporadically, catches are taken with one hand whilst the player looks in a different direction, and perhaps worse - and we’ve had this happen three times already - you’ll get someone out only to find that they are still batting next ball, seemingly oblivious to what previously occurred! It’s here where Big Ant really fall down, but knowing their history for swift patches, we imagine this’ll be put straight soon.

To add further fuel to the disappointment fire, however, we must mention the commentary. The audio in general is much, much better this time around - the ball hitting the wicket keeper’s gloves is particularly meaty and satisfying, as is the inclusion of the Barmy Army's chants - but even Michael Slater’s presence can’t save the commentary. Phrases are regularly behind the action, or are off the mark entirely. It’s amusing, but it lets the on-screen action down.
So, as we reach stumps on the final day, we find ourselves largely impressed with this latest cricket offering from Big Ant. Online matches might be hard to find, and sure, we would’ve adored a classic Ashes scenario mode - imagine Edgbaston 2005, or Headingly 1981, or Adelaide 2006, etc. - but the core experience is excellent. For a sport starved of quality video games, Ashes Cricket stands with urn raised, celebrating victory. Take our word for it, chums: this is a must-have for lovers of the gentleman’s game.

Pros

  • Fully licensed Ashes squads & stadiums
  • Academy creation suite is excellent
  • Improved visuals & audio
  • Career mode is as brilliant as ever
  • Control options for the purist & slogger
  • The game DBC17 should have been

Cons

  • Commentary is naff, in spite of Michael Slater’s presence
  • We would’ve loved a classic Ashes mode
  • Bugs & glitches
  • Hard to find an online match

8/10
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