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

Pokémon Sword and Shield | Review | Nintendo Switch

22/11/2019

 
Pokémon Sword and Shield | Review | Nintendo Switch - Pass the Controller

​The road to the Galar region has been a rocky one for Nintendo and Pokémon fans alike, but when it comes to deciding how this pair of new Nintendo Switch games fare, we'll be focusing on what is here more so than what isn't.

Picture
 
​by James
Michael
​Parry

Picture

@James_Parry

Picture
Developer: Game Freak
Publisher: Nintendo
Platforms: Nintendo Switch
Players: 1
As the first mainline Pokémon titles on Switch, expectations were high coming into Sword and Shield - which we’ve lumped together here due to them being largely identical. The overall experience is ultimately very, very familiar to regular players, with a more traditional gym badge structure returning after Sun and Moon's departure from the well-trodden format, and battles pushing the nostalgia button hard by leaning into familiar tropes.

Sun and Moon, alongside Let's Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee, brought new elements to the table. In Sword and Shield, however, normalcy and familiarity consume about 80-90% of the game, leaving little wiggle room for the few new elements to shine.

One returning feature is the ability to Dynamax Pokémon, overpowering and over-sizing them for three turns of badassery to surpass previous features like Mega Evolutions and Z-Moves. The novelty is initially impressive, but after a few times it wears off as you impatiently ride out the lengthy and unskippable animations.

Some Pokémon also boast Gigantimax forms, which function in much the same fashion only while also tweaking the visual design and granting a signature move to Pokémon. Nintendo made a song and dance about the “new” Gigantamaxing feature, yet this song is barely a remix.

​What does strike up a new tune is encountering significantly over-levelled Pokémon in the Wild Area. Coming up against these presents a chance to push your battle skills early on, but also shows off creatures in something more approaching a natural environment. While Pokémon do prowl about as you wander elsewhere in the game, the large evolutions present in the Wild Area carry an exciting visual impact that brings back memories of the Safari Zone, recapturing some of the child-like wonder of early Pokémon series exploration.
A cross between Teletubbyland and Breath of the Wild's rolling plains, the Wild Area itself could use a bit more intricacy. Biomes and various weather effects seem to shift from hail to sun and back again largely without rhyme or reason, but you'll lose plenty of time pottering about nonetheless. For the collectors amongst you, it's also a great opportunity to fill your Pokédex and diversify your party early on.

The story is by the numbers as usual, so those hoping for a deep, meaningful conversation with an NPC hanging out in a Pokémon Center will continue to be disappointed. A cheerful tune greets you whenever you do visit, though in this region there doesn't seem to be any Poké-helper for the nurse.

Elsewhere, the soundtrack is an awkward mix of sound effects we've been hearing for years (decades even), an increasingly archaic lack of spoken dialogue, and some charming new themes composed for the Wild Area and various cities. So fun are these latter spins on British culture, visually as well as musically, that you might find yourself spending longer than you should lingering in any one location.
​

While some rockstar Pokémon like Pikachu and Eevee get full sound effects - the creatures often saying their own names with a springy sense of joy - most don't have as much aural character, instead relying on adorable animations to help you bond with them as you play together in camps.
Animations overall are a strange mix, though. Even brand new additions like the three available starters (Scorbunny, Sobble and Grookey) have either well-choreographed displays for their unique moves, or completely generic ones which don't seem to match the move at all. You can go from the delight of a bespoke Wooloo "Tackle" to Scorbunny merely jumping on the spot to covey a "Double Kick" – even when it kicks merrily for some other moves.

Shortcomings don't end there, as the game also struggles to make the most of its new platform. Some locations and scenery really shine in terms of their design, but generally you'd be forgiven for assuming that Sword and Shield were 3DS ports.

That might still be enough for many players; after all, it’s almost impossible to escape the joy of setting out on an adventure to go from Pokémon zero to hero. Getting properly invested in a team and playing with their movesets to feel like you have all the bases covered is constantly rewarding, in spite of the eye-watering number of type combinations that are now available.

Hopefully the development compromises and sacrifices felt across Pokémon Sword and Shield will allow Game Freak to reassess and build on their successes to push the envelope in the future. In the meantime, there's a solid and enjoyable experience here, just not a new one.

Pros

  • New Pokémon have some great designs
  • The Wild Area is somewhat game-changing
  • Riffs on British culture are heartwarming

Cons

  • Only a handful of new elements
  • Human characters continue to be dull distractions from the titular stars
  • Many popular Pokémon don’t return, including some of the original starters

7/10
0 Comments

Tinymetal: Full Metal Rumble | Nintendo Switch | Review

26/7/2019

 
Tinymetal: Full Metal Rumble | Nintendo Switch | Review - Pass the Controller

​The world of strategy has been simmering away under the surface of the mainstream for a few years now. Long since the heyday of Westwood Studios, which ruled the real-time strategy genre with its Command & Conquer and Red Alert series, it’s been turn-based games which have been all the rage, thanks to the rise of Firaxis’ excellent XCOM revivals.

Picture
 
​by James
Michael
​Parry

Picture

@James_Parry

Picture
Developer: Area 35
Publisher: Area 34
Platforms: Switch,
Steam
Players: 1 - 2
Between the two eras was nestled a little gem - Advanced Wars on Nintendo DS - and its from that franchise which Tiny Metal: Full Metal Rumble draws the most inspiration. Not just from the look and the two different viewpoints you’ll encounter (one for movement and one for battles), but even the units and its futuristic, Japanese parody of US military bravado.

There’s a lot to take in from the get go, especially for those who aren’t Advanced Wars acquainted, so initially games can feel slow to get going. After a couple of campaign missions - which attempt to trickle in elements at a slow pace, but seem to tutorialise them the mission after you really need them - things pick up as more diverse unit options are introduced to bolster your arsenal, but also the tactical range of your enemy.

Units themselves have some character, cheerily riling off their canned lines as they move and attack, with the most personality saved for the 16 hero units, who carry their progression between battles. The generals too each have their own colour scheme, but besides from a fairly straightforward superpower a piece, which might boost attack power and capture speed for a couple of turns, aren’t as exciting in their own right.

​​While there’s a cost for producing new units in the game, all take just a single turn to appear, leaving you to decide which factory to spring a tank (known as a Metal) from for maximum tactical advantage. Learning which units can attack which takes time, making the difficulty curve not exactly steep but bumpy, and it takes a while for games to feel satisfying as you’re rapidly surrounded in the early game.
Soon, such is your efficiency at producing and preserving units, either by merging wounded squads or healing them at a player-owned city or facility, you’ll quickly find the map overrun and units begin to block each other from moving around effectively, leading to a major risk of bottlenecks if you aren’t too careful.

While the game works well in docked mode, this title has more of a handheld feel, and the turn-based nature lends itself to pulling it out for a few stops on the bus or morning train commute. Matches themselves, even early in the campaign, can easily last over half an hour a piece as games run across 15 or 20 in-game days (or turns) before one team’s HQ is ultimately vanquished.

Tinymetal’s music is fairly unmemorable and doesn’t get across the sort of drama and excitement you might hope for, especially compared to some of those iconic Red Alert or XCOM tunes. It should be noted that we haven’t unlocked the additional tracks with in-game currency, however. Visually, it’s fairly straightforward, but certainly more stylised, exciting and accessible than the somewhat similar Tiny Troopers Joint Ops XL.
Those looking to scratch a strategy itch won’t be disappointed here, with fun and games to be had for a budget-friendly asking price, but the repetition of the experience will start to grate for some before too long.

On top of the main campaign there’s Skirmish, where you battle AI using custom maps and settings, and also an online multiplayer component - but seemingly one too sparsely populated to find a game, even during peak hours.

In the end, Tinymetal: Full Metal Rumble on Switch is a fun little way to spend some portable gaming time, but doesn’t do too much to be exciting or bring a new twist to the genre or platform. There’s little to master, other than the patience for slow-moving and resource-limited units, but there’s still something endearing and easy to enjoy about the game.

Pros
​
  • Nice aesthetic brings the battlefield to life
  • ​Isometric blocks hiding the fog of war present challenging sightlines
  • A multitude of accents and quirks do enough to make units interesting

Cons

  • Hero units aren’t the silver bullet they’re made out to be
  • Repetition can set in quickly
  • Online multiplayer is barren

7/10
0 Comments

Swords & Soldiers II Shawarmageddon | Nintendo Switch | Review

17/3/2019

 
Swords-&-Soldiers-II-Shawarmageddon-Nintendo-Switch

Following its launch on PC and PS4 late last year, Ronimo Games (Awesomenauts Assemble!) have brought their side-scrolling strategy title to Nintendo Switch.

Picture

by Liam
​Andrews

Picture

@liam_andrews5


Picture
Developer: Ronimo Games
Publisher:  Ronimo Games
Platforms: Switch, PlayStation 4, PC
Players: 1-2

If the name sounds terribly familiar, that’s probably because it first launched exclusively on the much-maligned Wii U back in 2015. Along with the new Shawarmageddon subtitle, Swords & Soldiers II arrives on Ninty’s hybrid console with a number of “tweaks and improvements” to gameplay and added online multiplayer.

​Campaign mode follows Redbeard the Viking and his army on a series of comical adventures to hunt down missing sheep, accidentally uncovering a sinister plot involving everyone’s favourite meat-based snack in the process. At around 10 hours in length, there’s a sizeable chunk of strategy-based humour on offer here, but, as particular fans of ridiculous character names and terrible puns, we could happily have spent another dozen or so hours with Redbeard and co.

All the action takes place from a 2D perspective, with players battling left-to-right along lanes towards an enemy base or current objective. Resources, either mined or picked up from the battlefield, are used to research and purchase a variety of ground units and abilities in order to accomplish this.

New enemy factions gradually enter the fray as your crusade unfolds, each featuring a range of unique units and powers to help set them apart. You have powers of your own, of course, which cost mana to utilise and are incredibly useful tools for turning battles in your favour. They’re also unconventional, our personal favourites being to bribe powerful enemy units into switching sides, or, when we couldn’t spare the cash, temporarily transforming them into harmless sheep.
Apart from units actively mining resources, which remain at your base unless commanded to collect pick-ups, all units begin marching towards enemy positions immediately once purchased. They give no thought to their own safety or the size of the challenge facing them, therefore, players must manage resources carefully to ensure troops are sent forth in groups, rather than individually. This leads to some interesting strategization, as you’ll want to find potent combinations that best complement each other.

Missions generally feature at least one main objective along with one or two bonus objectives, which encourage you to experiment with tactics or challenge yourself by deliberately making things harder, adding variety to the straightforward level layouts. Main objectives range from simply destroying enemy bases to more memorable tasks like navigating a limited number of troops through environmental obstacles. Occasionally, you’ll also come across Bonus Battles; these one-off skirmishes give you the freedom to build your own army from all of the units you’ve unlocked thus far.

​Both visually and technically, Shawarmageddon fares well on Switch. Frame rates occasionally drop during the largest of battles, but (naturally) Nintendo’s hybrid console offers the most ways to play - docked, handheld and touch - to easily counterbalance that. There’s seamless switching between the latter two, which makes targeting individual units a doddle, though, as we’ve found before, the balance, weight and shape of the Switch just doesn’t lend itself well to this one-handed style of play for long periods of time.
The versatility of the Joy-Cons also facilitates spontaneous bouts of local multiplayer, both docked and on-the-go, with portable play intelligently taking the unconventional approach of splitting matches vertically for optimum use of the Switch’s limited screen space.

​Online multiplayer doesn’t hold up quite so well, unfortunately, as you’ll likely struggle to find another player even during peak hours. After just a handful of successful matches (many of which were against the same opponent), we found ourselves ranked 23rd on the global leaderboards, which suggests this mode has a very limited following.

Despite the dearth of online competition, Ronimo have catered their charismatically simple and engaging take on the strategy genre to all play styles on Switch, making it an attractive purchase.

Pros

  • Simple, engaging gameplay
  • Lighthearted story featuring brilliantly bad puns
  • Decent variety of units and special abilities to choose from
  • Switch version offers a variety of ways to play

Cons
​
  • Lack of competition all but renders online play obsolete
  • Could’ve used a lengthier campaign

8/10
0 Comments

Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden | Xbox One | Review

6/12/2018

 
Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden - Xbox One - Review - Pass the Controller

Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden takes the turn-based tactics integral to its tabletop namesake and mixes them with real-time stealth and exploration, giving life to a hybrid brand of gameplay which fittingly mirrors the title’s overarching themes.

Picture





by Sam Sant

Picture

@SlamShotSam


Picture
Developer: The
Bearded Ladies

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

​Players: 1
Developed by some of the talent behind Hitman and Payday, it’s perhaps easiest to liken Mutant Year Zero to the thoroughly excellent Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, in that combat heavily channels XCOM and encounters are separated by spates of third-person adventuring as a party of three. While the anthropomorphic, oddball cast of mouthy mutants in Road to Eden are likeable enough, they really can’t hold a candle to Mario and co., so it’s fortunate that the game does a better job of tying its seemingly disparate styles of gameplay together.

Combat and exploration are seamlessly married here, as, rather than simply crossing the threshold into a designated arena to kick things off, you’ll utilise stealth to ensure you have the greatest possible advantage before manually triggering a battle. Using silent weaponry, it’s possible to pick stragglers off to gradually thin core groups of enemies and allow access to advantageous positions - like full cover or high ground - in order to better plot and execute a meticulous ambush on the main, unmoving force.

You’ll need to build that plan around your character loadouts and abilities, in addition to enemy weaknesses, as a carefully considered approach is all but compulsory. If you’re careless and get spotted in the act, you’ll forfeit good cover and the first turn, which means you’ll quickly feel the opposition's full force. At that point, you most often might as well forfeit, as MYZ is pretty punishing even on the lowest difficulty setting.

By nature, random chance can also play a part in turning the tides either in or against your favour, but there thankfully isn’t a great deal of scope for missing at point-blank range here, with hit likelihoods kept to nice 25% increments. Still, you’d need to be a bit of a masochist to tackle Hard and/or Very Hard, especially with the Iron Mutant permadeath modifier enabled...

The level of challenge does help every victory feel hard earned though, which is a feeling then compounded by rewarding incentives. You’ll gain experience points to spend across refreshingly concise character skill trees, often in addition to Scrap to spend on gear and weapon parts used to upgrade your arsenal.
Straying from the main path to explore offshoots in the game’s “post-human” take on Earth allows you to uncover these materials in abundance, as well as new weapons and armour, plus even the odd side quest. The latter pair with collectibles to flesh out an intriguing background for what’s a rundown-yet-lush world reclaimed by nature; environments are thick with fine visual details, noticeable even from the game’s somewhat removed, isometric perspective, which makes it a shame that the camera can’t be zoomed in to appreciate them to their fullest.

After any stint outside the one remaining safe haven, a hub area known as the Ark, you can return to tune your kit before heading back out into the Zone, which encompasses the rest of the uncharted world, except for the vague promise of Eden. It’s this illusive, titular paradise you spend the game seeking, initially just as Dux and Bormin, a squabbling and lovable duo comprised of (shockingly) a duck and a boar respectively.

More humanoid companions are acquired along the way, but despite their appearance, everyone in MYZ is mutated in some way or another in order to survive the harsh landscape. All of the party characters are decent, but they only ever share playing third fiddle to the more charismatic leading duo; everyone at least maintains the pervasive air of silliness, quite humorously misinterpreting “ancient” technologies to cut through what can otherwise be quite a bleak atmosphere.
MYZ is a strange game, but in the best way - it’s a mechanics and lore-focused gamer’s game not requiring the sort of time and energy commitment many of its ilk do.
If you can put aside the somewhat cumbersome HUD and a few performance hitches - which aren’t too invasive, due to the game’s methodical pacing - there’s an awful lot both to get to grips with and to be gripped by. Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is a strange game, but in the best way - it’s a mechanics and lore-focused gamer’s game that doesn’t require the sort of crazy time and energy commitment many of its ilk do. For a budget buck, or no extra cost to Xbox Game Pass subscribers, it’s one that fans of role-playing and strategy shouldn’t sleep on.

Pros

  • Ties turn-based combat & real-time exploration together through stealth
  • High level of challenge makes every victory satisfying
  • Bleak-yet-lush world is enticing to discover & explore
  • Strikes a good balance between being comedic & serious
  • Budget asking price for a game that outshines recent AAA disappointments

Cons

  • HUD can be cluttered & inaccurate
  • Frame rate takes the occasional hit
  • Random chance can undo a lengthy, hard-fought combat encounter

8/10
0 Comments

Valkyria Chronicles 4 | Xbox One | Review

11/10/2018

 
Picture

Sega spawned many a classic during their Dreamcast-era days, but have struggled to stay as relevant in the ensuing years. The original Valkyria Chronicles appealed because of its gorgeous looks and Dreamcastian demeanour, but we never quite got round to it, so came to this latest edition with some excitement. Let’s cast nostalgia aside though, and answer one of life’s truly great questions: is it any good?

Picture

​by Rob
​Holt

Picture

​@acousticmagic

Picture
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, Switch, PC
Players: 1
For those new to the series, Valkyria Chronicles 4 follows the same strategy-come-third-person-action combo platter of its elderly brethren, which Sega refers to as its BLiTZ system. Those familiar with games like Fire Emblem, any of Koei-Tecmo’s Warriors series, XCOM et al will find a great deal of familiar ground here, but Valkyria Chronicles 4 excels in creating a well-balanced mash-up: the command based tactics sections matter just as much as your choices in the third-person brawls.
​

Valk 4 (that’s right, I’m lazy) is set during the same fictional wartime period as Valk 1 - the second Europa war - but this time follows the trials and tribulations of the ingeniously named “Squad-E”, a faction of the Federation fighting back against the evil Imperial Army. Squad-E are lead by perhaps gaming’s most charismatic cardboard cut-out of an emo, Lieutenant Claude Wallace (get used to his huffs, puffs, never-on-the-ears headphones and difficult hair in the cutscenes...)

Claude is merely the tip of the fun when it comes to the hilariously stereotypical characters, though. Hold onto your hats: there’s Raz, the sweary-womanising-reckless-drinking-smoking bad-boy; Riley, the inappropriately-dressed-for-war-who’s-a-woman-and-don’t-need-no-boy/man; Miles, the quiet, dorky tank driver; 
and Aladdin, the self-confessed handsome bastard that has quite the resemblance to Billy Corgan. In any other game we'd struggle to be engaged by these characters, but here it all comes together and somehow adds to the overall experience (the haircuts alone are a joy to ogle).
Getting your tactics right and correctly reading the terrain will ultimately decide whether you prosper or fall. ​
So, the characters are amusing, but how does the dang thing actually play? To boil it down to its essence, each slobberknocker in Valk 4 sees you moving between a top-down map screen from which you issue commands (position/deploy units, request reinforcements, etc.) and the gloriously animated violence of the third-person running and gunning. We’ve played quite a few similar attempts at this mix, but none come close to the perfect blend achieved here. 

The sheer variety of choices on offer is astounding, really shaping how you tackle a particular situation or foe. Do you load up on the bazooka-wielding Lancers to take out tanks? Should you employ many-a-sniper to sneak around and take out the enemy crumb by crumb? Perhaps the protective nature of Shocktroopers is more to your taste? Whichever way you decide to go, you’re bound to have fun, learn from your mistakes, and ultimately realise the potential of classes that originally seemed one dimensional (man, the engineers and grenadiers come in handy).

​Vehicular combat also features prominently in
Valk 4, with regular use of Claude’s tank, The Hafen, at your disposal, alongside the incredibly handy APC, which allows you to transport soldiers across the battlefield. Whether it be vehicles or infantry, getting your tactics right and correctly reading the terrain will ultimately decide whether you prosper or fall.

Picture
Much like the original Valk, version 4 boasts the same command points and action points gameplay system. Command points show you how many actions you can make per turn, whereas action points are relative to each individual unit (later on you can buddy-up groups to your sergeants for extra fun). You can only move/shoot freely until that unit’s meter runs dry, with certain units capable of moving faster/farther, adding extra tactical depth. Using your CP and AP wisely is vital to dominating the blasted Imperial Army.

​
Valk 4 also offers up a buffet of extras, including levelling up character classes, weapon creation, tank/APC improvements, and, best of all, squad building, which functions exactly as you’d imagine while opening up extra cutscenes and fights. All of the above add to the rich expanse of customisation available to the player, really helping to suck you into the story and gameplay on the whole.

Gawping at Valk 4 is simply sublime, too, amigos. The gorgeous watercolour style evokes a lost storybook feel, adding emotional depth to the characters and the horrors of war. It’s not just the perfectly animated and drawn characters and sets, but the tea-stained map and comic book bright text of moving foes in the command segments, all working in unison to add that extra layer of visual polish and personality.  

We’re not finished with the positives yet, as you can also add the game’s audio into the mix (WHAT. A. PUN). Sweeping, swooping strings and stupendous orchestration follow Squad-E’s ups and downs perfectly, whilst the voice acting is charmingly corny.
Picture
As much as we’ve enjoyed Valk 4, we’d be fool not to point out a couple of its flaws. The many, many, MANY cutscenes can leave you feeling foie-gras’d (you bet your rectum that’s a verb), as it often feels like you’re never going to get into an actual battle. It doesn’t help that voiceovers move too slowly to keep up with the subtitles, seeing us jam the A button on the reg in order to speed through another scene of Claude feeling emo about his weakling past (Scaredy Claude is his nickname, in spite of being in charge). There’s also no getting away from the fact that a Japanese-centric third-person strategy RPG is just an insy bit niche…

​
Despite those minor negatives, we came away thoroughly entertained by Valkyria Chronicles 4. Its tactics and combat are fun; the characters and story sway between cliche, humourous and melancholy; and the audio-visual presentation is outstanding. We’ve been blessed with some cracking games already this year, but personally, this goes straight to number one for little-old-me. A Dreamcastian delight: thanks Sega.

Pros

  • Gorgeous art style
  • Deep, varied & entertaining combat
  • Fun story, full of amusing stereotypes
  • Fantastic soundtrack
  • Twee voice acting is often hilarious
  • This is post-Dreamcast Sega at their best
  • Plenty of content & challenge

Cons

  • Pace will be too slow for some
  • Endless cutscenes can grate

9/10
0 Comments

Two Point Hospital | Steam | Review

5/9/2018

 
Two Point Hospital | Steam | Review - Pass the Controller

There’s a fine art to taking a beloved franchise and using it as a base to produce something new that can stand alone. Whether it’s The Last Jedi dividing a fanatical Star Wars audience or the latest superhero flick not being true to its source material, the process is fraught with danger and potential fan backlash. How reassuring to our faith in humanity then that Two Point Hospital is every bit the worthy standard bearer for a welcome return to the 90s’ management sim boom.

Picture

​by James
Michael
​Parry

Picture

@James_Parry

Picture
Developer: Two
Point Studios
Publisher: SEGA
Platforms: PC,
Mac, Linux
Players: 1
Best of all, it leapfrogs (or bullfrogs...) the technical constraints of that bygone era to deliver a title with graphical and performance settings up the wazoo, including a stonkingly high frame rate slider which goes so far in specific numbers we're pretty sure it's a gag.

In fact, the humour is something which gave the original game it's trademark Britishness, so you'll be pleased to hear that’s been brought through in top form. Over-the-top ailments - which you, as hospital administrator, must put doctors on the case to diagnose - are the most obvious example, though, tragically (or fortunately, for patients), Bloody Head and Slack Tongue aren't running rife in Two Point County.

More than that though, it's the little animations and character interactions that make the game stand out if you look a little closer, such as the frustrated nurse struggling to get her computer to work, or a lonely monobrow snaking its way around the hospital halls, waiting to be zapped by your all-seeing crosshair of doom.

​Despite the nods to
Theme Hospital, the game isn't at all closed off to newcomers, taking cues from the likes of The Sims in character personality traits and the ability to play with time, which can make things a lot less frantic. Offering up just a handful of conditions and different areas to manage in the first few levels, you won't be worrying about minor details like hygiene or temperature in your hospital until you've got to grips with the basics.
Two Point Hospital is every bit the worthy standard bearer for a welcome return to the 90s’ management sim boom.
A major plus this time around is that you have multiple locations to manage, so you can always revisit an earlier level and beef it up with more advanced equipment and items to boost your overall organisation's revenue. This metagame is a welcome addition, but, so far, hasn't seen different locations interact or crossover.

Repetition and busywork are the quickest way to kill the fun in a simulation game, but fortunately, thanks to the slow introduction of mechanics and a startling amount of depth when you start to dig into the more detailed menus on the information tab, Two Point manages not to be afflicted with this disease.

Given there are humans responsible for Theme Hospital involved with the project, it's no surprise that this and probably every other review mentions the game's connection to what was a mainstay of 90s PC gaming. Despite that, Two Point proudly stands on its own, with more than enough fresh ideas to make it feel like an entirely new game.

​
There are a few foibles to throw amongst the superlatives, however: AI behaviour of characters can be questionable at times, and in some aspects there's a lot of manual clicking of items to make sure they’re dealt with - particularly for the janitors, even though you can manually enable and disable specific tasks.

​Other elements seem very much up to chance as well, such as the panic-inducing emergency requests, which see six or eight patients with the same condition come in for treatment at the same time. In these instances, it often doesn't seem to matter how slick an operation you’re running - there are always casualties. You might have a plus-sized ward with enough empty beds and a more than capable senior nurse, boasting the relevant treatment specialist skills, but still find patients dropping dead on you. A less than encouraging outcome.

Still, these moments are few and far between, and the potential to add in new elements post-launch is now far more likely than in the CD-ROM era.

If you're looking for a surprising diagnosis for this game, then you'll need a second opinion, as we're here to confirm - despite a few minor flaws - that the Two Point fever sweeping Steam right now is every bit as intoxicatingly contagious as it's cracked up to be. If they'd got the original tannoy voice back, it might somehow be even better.

Pros


  • A welcome adrenaline shot of nostalgia
  • Improves on its inspiration and brings the genre bang up to date
  • Technically well put together and bags of options to tweak

Cons

  • Sometimes chance plays into things a little too much
  • Emergencies with zero deaths seem near-impossible
  • AI occasionally has a mind of its own

10/10
0 Comments

Masters of Anima | Xbox One | Review

10/4/2018

 
Masters of Anima Xbox One review - Pass the Controller

Masters of Anima is a charming action strategy game in the vein of Pikmin and Overlord, where the player guides a young man named Otto on a quest to save his betrothed.

Picture





by Sam Sant

Picture

@SlamShotSam


Picture
Developer: Passtech
Games

Publisher: Focus Home
Interactive

​Platforms: Xbox One,
​PS4, Switch, PC

​Players: 1
Set in the whimsical world of Spark, Zahr the Banished has sundered Otto’s beloved Ana, splitting her into three pieces and scattering them around the realm. You’ll use your skills as a Shaper to harness the magical powers of Anima and summon a range of Guardians to command in your battle against Zahr and his Golem fighting force, all in order to reunite Ana’s heart, mind and body.

It's a simple story, but a relatable one that serves as a solid central conceit
 thanks to some amusing writing and endearing voice work. Just as delightful are the hand-illustrated cutscenes and colourfully cartoonish art style, enhanced with Xbox One X support.

An accessible control scheme makes Masters of Anima’s gameplay similarly inviting, allowing you to micromanage units with ease. There are five breeds of Guardian, each boasting their own unique strengths and weaknesses, summoned at the cost of the titular mana resource. Up to 100 Guardians can be spawned onto the field at once - provided you’ve acquired the relevant upgrades - with your elemental army then set to aid in each of the game’s three key pillars in exploration, puzzle solving and combat.

Excellent balance is struck between the three, as engaging environmental puzzles and challenging skirmishes spatter sprawling and varied (both geographically and mechanically) levels overflowing with optional paths, collectibles and quests.

Combat encounters are very much the meat of the experience though, presenting Masters’ tactical elements front and centre. Taking a varied spread of the five Guardian classes on offer into the fray is generally a good idea, but not universally so, due in part to the fact it'll take longer to direct your legion the more sets of units you have in play. Whilst enemies display distinguishable attack patterns and blatantly telegraph blows, you're not always afforded the necessary time as you juggle (in real-time) directing each type of Guardian to attack according to their strengths, running defence for both Otto and his summons, and launching your own melee offensive courtesy of Otto's staff in frantic-but-considered fashion.
Excellent balance is struck between the game's three key pillars in exploration, puzzle solving and combat.
Stocking up on a certain type of Guardian as a situation dictates - bow-wielding Sentinels for a boss that cuts a swathe through melee fighters, for example - can help to secure not just victory, but a pat on the back and some extra experience points too. You receive a letter grading at the end of each engagement, with the lofty S rank often taking a few failed practice attempts to reach.

Upgrading Guardians can help to make them useful in more situations, but with skill points shared between each class and Otto himself, deciding where to invest them can take a bit of thought; luckily, you can respec as many times as you like between levels in order to really nail the perfect loadout. Replaying stages will net you extra experience to keep improving your build, which is a nice little motivator to do so, as is the opportunity to improve upon letter gradings and gather any remaining collectibles.
Outside of the odd technical performance dip and a few proofreading oversights (just note that we were playing a pre-release version), Masters of Anima is a game that’s very easy to admire. Rich with personality and considered design, joining Otto on his quest is a no-brainer for fans of the often overlooked action strategy genre.

Pros

  • Simultaneously frantic & tactical combat
  • Choosing a loadout of Guardians & upgrades adds an extra layer of depth
  • Some great level design
  • Charming characters & narrative
  • Lovely visuals

Cons

  • Noticeable frame rate drops on occasion 
  • A few instances of dodgy English amongst the menu text

8/10
0 Comments

Battlezone: Combat Commander | PC | Review

8/3/2018

 
Battlezone: Combat Commander - Pass the Controller review

Following in the footsteps of Battlezone 98 Redux, the second game in Rebellion’s classic PC strategy series has now been lavished with the same spa treatment. Originally released nearly two decades ago, Combat Commander’s remaster expectedly shows a few cracks, but an intriguing blend of RTS and FPS mechanics still make for some uniquely exciting skirmishes.

Picture





by Sam Sant

Picture

@SlamShotSam


Picture
Developer: Big Boat
Interactive

Publisher: Rebellion
​Platforms: PC
​Players: 1 - 14
Rather than playing from an aloof position, as is the norm in an RTS, Combat Commander fittingly places you in the thick of the fight. From the cockpit you’ll spearhead assaults whilst issuing commands to a range of defensive, utility and offensive units to achieve the tactical advantage. This results in a frantic workflow that takes time to master, but is constantly satisfying.

Hotkey shortcuts make management relatively simple as you establish a base and expand outwards by building structures, along with nodes to power them, at the cost of Biometal, a gradually mined resource. Once you have and utilise the means at your disposal to establish a defensive perimeter, select a player loadout and amass a small fighting force, the race is on to find and destroy your opponent’s base before they can do the same to yours.

So far so familiar, but it’s in rolling out into the field that Combat Commander comes into its own. While unit management isn’t quite as elegant as in a dedicated RTS, due to the fact your mouse is otherwise occupied with shooting, it’s a worthy trade-off when the ability to actively engage in battles serves to make the core experience so much more compelling.

Though we’re definitely undignified enough to suggest that an increased level of violence would improve a game of chess, getting your boots on the ground - often literally - actually poses new strategic opportunities for the opposing purist. Utilising cover and terrain to your advantage comes naturally, whilst the ability to seamlessly hop out of your craft and use a sniper rifle to pick off enemy pilots and instantly disable their turret/vehicle is an absolute blessing!
Combat Commander’s remaster shows a few cracks, but an intriguing blend of RTS and FPS mechanics still make for some uniquely exciting skirmishes.
Not all of the changes are to your advantage, though. Obviously you can’t just jump back to your base of operations or an outpost that’s under attack in Combat Commander, upping tension and encouraging a careful approach.

While very subtle tweaks help the gameplay to endure, changes on the visual front are a little more drastic. The game simultaneously looks sharp and slightly retro, clearly being a modernisation of aged assets in place of genuine current design, which there’s a certain charm to. Old school wonk like shooting a chain link fence with a standard round causing it to explode, or hilariously bad walking and on-foot death animations, don’t translate quite so well.

Having largely remained true to the original means that the remaster isn’t too taxing to run. Its range of graphics options ensured we had no problem maintaining 1080p/60FPS on a GTX 1060, though it’s possible to reach the heights of 4K resolution and a higher unlocked frame rate with a more powerful rig. Unfortunately, Combat Commander is less technically accommodating elsewhere, with alt + tabbing causing temporary choppiness, and badly implemented controller support.


On the solo front, Instant Action mode caters to an itchy trigger finger, while the lengthy campaign slowly introduces new concepts to players across 24 varied missions. Set in the 1990s, the discovery of a hostile alien race dubbed Scions prompts the US and Russia to combine forces. You play Lieutenant Cooke of the International Space Defence Force (ISDF) and embark on an interplanetary crusade that’ll lead you down one of two branching paths dependant on a pivotal decision.

The narrative is really what you make of it, delivered through introspective loading screen monologues, written briefs and audio logs that it’s up to you to interact with. Jarringly untouched cutscenes are fortunately a rarity, but worse is the often inaudible mission chatter that gets drowned out by obnoxious sound effects, even after lowering audio levels.
The game simultaneously looks sharp and slightly retro, which there’s a certain charm to.
While hopping between six planets provides a welcome change in scenery now and again, differences in mission parameters aren’t always as easy to appreciate. Combat Commander’s campaign can stray from its strengths, dumping you in an on-foot stealth section, or tasking you with building a base then not allowing you to make use of it. Throw instances of generally poor design into the mix, like needing to leave the area you’re defending to proximity trigger enemies, or placing a particularly difficult section at the very end of a long stretch when the game has no checkpointing, and some outings are a recipe for frustration.

They aren’t all bad - a few objectives are particularly good fun, in fact - but with the multiplayer suite there’s less chance of being let down. Up to 14 players can compete and cooperate locally via LAN or online with cross-play between Steam and GOG Galaxy. Eight modes include the conventional Strategy game type, Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and also more more outlandish undertakings like Loot (steal as much money as possible from a bank) and Race.

You may struggle to find active servers for anything other than Strategy and cooperative Online Instant Action, in which a group of players wage war with challenging AI, but already having ‘dead’ game types doesn’t throw up too many concerns about longevity. With modifiers available to hosts, an endless supply of maps thanks to an extensive editing tool, plus mod and add-on support that anyone can get to grips with, the Battlezone player base has a lot at their disposal.

Much like Rogue Trooper Redux before it, in being ahead of its time in many ways, Rebellion ensured that Combat Commander would remain engaging for future audiences way back when. Its central coupling of genres is still genius, but a concept now held back by some dated execution.


Pros

  • Brilliant twist on the conventional RTS
  • Nicely modernised whilst staying true to the original
  • All-in on community support
  • Get a lot for your money

Cons

  • Some poor campaign levels in the mix
  • Grating audio issues
  • Doesn’t play well with alt + tabbing away

7/10
0 Comments

Darkest Dungeon | Nintendo Switch | Review

31/1/2018

 
Darkest Dungeon Necromancer Battle

Since leaving Steam Early Access just over two years ago, Red Hook Studios’ aptly titled dungeon crawler has made its way to a number of platforms. Nintendo Switch users are the latest glory hunters to be offered the opportunity to test their mettle, but is this dungeon worth delving?

Picture

by Liam 
​Andrews

Picture

​@liam_andrews5

Picture
Developer: ​Red Hook Studios
​Publisher: ​ Red Hook Studios
​Platforms: ​Switch, PS4, PS Vita, PC, iOS
Players: ​1
For the uninitiated, Darkest Dungeon is a side-scrolling, turn-based roguelike RPG where combat and exploration take both a physical and mental toll on your heroes. Your mission is to claim back your birth rite - a decrepit mansion and its grounds - from bandits and monstrous creatures that spilled forth from a mysterious portal following a misguided attempt to harness its power.

You’ll be doing this with the help of mercenaries - a mix of brigands, occultists and warriors all looking for a slice of the glory - that show up in the small, hub-like hamlet outside of the sprawling, titular structure. A visit to the hamlet affords players the opportunity to upgrade armour and abilities, recruit fresh meat, and soothe the troubled minds of their hired muscle with a healthy mix of piety, booze and debauchery.

Up to four recruits can be taken on a mission, each of which vary in length and objective. Some only require you to scout a certain number of rooms within the dungeon, while others task you with clearing every encounter on a procedurally generated floor. Harder missions open up as you progress, gradually building towards challenging boss fights.

​
Managing the mental state of heroes is key to emerging victorious, as is making sure you’ve brought enough food, torches and medical equipment to last a sortie into the ruins. If a hero becomes too stressed - as a result of a combat encounter, a lack of supplies, or the slowly encroaching darkness that boosts enemy attributes - their resolve is tested, potentially unearthing negative personality traits that can hinder further progress. Push them harder still and they’ll keel over from a heart attack, ending them permanently.
Outside of a PC, this has to be the best way to enjoy the game.
The risk of forever losing a favourite character, coupled with a hefty amount of information to absorb, can at first seem a little daunting, but push past the opening hours of uncertainty and you’ll be rewarded with a solid, tactical RPG filled with rich, atmospheric environments, unforgiving-yet-satisfying combat and some of the best accompanying narration heard in gaming.

So, after recently releasing on Nintendo Switch, a console that combines many of the advantages offered by the other devices the game calls home - the portability and touchscreen capabilities of the PS Vita or an iPad, the home console experience of a PS4 – is Nintendo’s hybrid the ultimate platform on which to enjoy Darkest Dungeon?

​Considering this is the third iteration of the game to arrive on a console, Darkest Dungeon still feels very much like a title that’s been designed first and foremost with mouse and keyboard in mind. Menus aren’t the easiest to navigate with a standard controller setup, and often require awkward button combinations to open stat screens and sub menus. Handheld mode alleviates this somewhat by allowing you to utilise the Switch’s touch screen, but playing this way also comes with a couple of caveats.
Darkest Dungeon and its blend of gothic horror and engrossing fantasy adventure is an excellent and most welcome addition to the Switch’s rapidly expanding roster.
As we found during our time with Severed, the shape, weight and balance of the Switch doesn’t lend itself well to combined Joy-Con/touch screen control for any lengthy amount of time. In addition to that, the already small text and menu icons shrink even further when viewed in handheld mode and can be quite difficult to read, though Red Hook recently stated they’re looking into resolving this issue after receiving player feedback.

In spite of these drawbacks,
Darkest Dungeon and its blend of gothic horror and engrossing fantasy adventure is an excellent and most welcome addition to the Switch’s rapidly expanding roster of games. Outside of a PC, this has to be the best way to enjoy the game, effortlessly merging the home and portable experiences offered singularly by other platforms.

Pros
  • Satisfyingly challenging, tactical combat
  • Deeply atmospheric
  • Clever stress mechanic & character permadeath enforce careful play
  • Superb accompanying narration, performed by Wayne June

Cons

  • Text & icons appear too small in handheld mode (possible fix incoming)
  • Fiddly UI layout
  • New players may struggle with the initial learning curve

8/10
0 Comments

Hand of Fate 2 | Xbox One | Review

8/12/2017

 
Picture

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.

Picture





by Sam Sant

Picture

@SlamShotSam


Picture
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.
​

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
0 Comments
<<Previous


    READ MORE

    News
    Features
    Videos

    Comment Here


    Categories

    All
    Action Adventure
    Adventure
    Air Combat
    Arcade
    Family
    Fighter
    Hardware
    Horror
    Indie
    Open World
    Platformer
    Puzzler
    Racing
    Role Playing
    Shmup
    Shooter
    Sim
    Sports
    Stealth
    Strategy
    Survival
    Virtual Reality


    Archives

    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    July 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 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
    January 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


    RSS Feed

Pass the Controller

News
Reviews
Features
​
Videos
Forum
About

The Forums

Gaming Discussion
Xbox
PlayStation
PC Gaming
Nintendo
Off Topic
​Achievements and Trophies

What is PTC

About Us
​Meet the Team
​
Contact Us
OpenCritic
Find our reviews on OpenCritic
vrgamecritic
Find our reviews on vrgamecritic
© COPYRIGHT 2014-2019 PTC / JMP.
​ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.