Red Dead Redemption

This week I had planned on finishing F.E.A.R 2, but honestly, something much better came up. Red Dead Redemption has been called Grand Theft Horse by many, and with the same developers and game type, they may be on to something. But I found that this game was so much more than GTA 1911 after playing through its magnificent story and thrilling multiplayer.

Red Dead Redemption is a Open-world Action/Adventure game developed by Rockstar San Diego, and produced by Rockstar Games. It puts an Old West spin on the sandbox games that Rockstar so skillfully produce, and adds a whole new level of depth to the open world you're set loose in.

STORY
Rockstar games have continued their skillful writing from GTA4 into Red Dead Redemption; giving players a believable but still interesting story, conveyed through likable and relatable characters.
RDR puts players in the boots and hat of John Marston; a retired outlaw being blackmailed by the government to hunt down his former friends and gang members, to ensure the safety of his wife and son. Unfortunately, you don't ACTUALLY find this out for some time, unless you're a smarty-pants and read the back of the game case. In which case congratu-fucking-lations.
The game takes place in American Old West Territory in 1911; at what could be called "the end of the Old West", which can be seen through the availability of semi automatic weapons, as well as the first cars.

PRESENTATION
The open world of Red Dead Redemption is one of the best looking game settings that I've seen in recent years. Environments range from expansive western deserts to civil-war torn Mexican villages, lush forests to snow-capped mountains.
The wilderness feels rather empty, until you realise that it's not just humans and horses in this world, but a plethora of wild and (some) potentially dangerous animals.

The voice acting and dialogue is of a particularly high quality; but that doesn't mean Red Dead is without its flaws. More often than not, you may walk past an NPC; and hear them talk in an atrocious, stereotypical western accent.
Though, this is only a rare occurrence.
Otherwise, the voice acting is impressive, and really made me (as the player) feel like i knew these people; despite them being computer generated models.

The soundtrack to RDR consists mainly of ambient music, to set the mood for the lonely, far reaching land that you find yourself in. Lots of guitar and occasional piano to make you feel truly immersed in the environment. Then at some points, you hear actual songs, which really fit the mood perfectly. For example, during John's first steps in Mexico, "Far Away" by José González begins to play; and it really conveys the emotion of being miles away from home, in a strange and unfamiliar land.

GAMEPLAY
If you've played GTA 4, then the majority of Red Dead's gameplay will be familiar. As John Marston, players can take part in combat, as well as ride horses and play various mini-games.
Combat controls are pretty much just like GTA4; John can lock on to targets, as well as free target; take cover behind walls, and use a variety of weapons from the era. These include pistols and revolvers, rifles and repeaters, sniper rifles, shotguns, explosives and throwing knives.
A new feature to combat is the Dead Eye system, which basically works like bullet time at first. At its second level, moving the reticule over targets will mark them to be shot and during its third level, players can mark automatically, adding an extra layer of precision to the gunplay in RDR.

Horses control well (on the most part), and speed varies depending on the breed. They can gallop faster for short periods of time, as well as leap obstacles and run down people on foot. A neat feature is the ability to call to your horse, allowing it to find you no matter where you are. This is convenient when you find yourself stranded in the desert.
Though horses control pretty well, some bugs do exist, such as their eagerness to jump any fences or into any rivers than may be nearby, despite only walking slowly towards these hazards.

When players merge the two aspects of horseback riding and gunplay, it makes for some intense action sequences. Mounted combat works surprisingly better than I expected, and alot of the time, i found myself opting to stay on my horse than to drop and take cover.

As well as these features, RDR also lets players take part in various gambling games like Blackjack, Poker and Liars Dice. They can also roam the open world and hunt the wildlife to gain money and complete challenges.

Minor glitches popped up during my time with the game, but the majority of the bugs have been patched out; and what we're left with is a lot of solid gameplay in one game. A minor gameplay feature also confused me a little. The "honor" system seemed really out of place to me, and really has no effect on gameplay or story. The game would not have been any worse off without it.

REPLAYABILITY
There is alot to do in RDR's single player mode. With such a wide open world, dozens upon dozens of stranger challenges to complete, hundreds of animals just asking for a bullet between the eyes, millions of flowers to be picked, and all the fun in the west to be had; RDR will keep you coming back for more. Even after you hit the elusive 100% mark, theres the multiplayer aspect.

Players start off in the free roam world, which is really the game's lobby. From there, players can journey to cities to take part in online shootouts if they so choose. Or they can form a posse and go take out a gang hideout. The possibilities truly do seem endless.
However, i do have a big problem with it. With such limitless possibilities, i find it hard to believe that only 3 times in 5 days did i run into anyone online. And that one encounter ended with me leaving his corpse for a bear to feast upon. Perhaps that's why no one will play with me?

OVERVIEW
Red Dead Redemption is a visually stunning, beautifully written game with solid gameplay that is subject to a few bugs. These bugs are by no means a deal breaker, but can get a bit annoying more than a few times. It will keep calling you back to the vast environments over and over again, if only to try your luck against a bear, using only a knife.
Oh, also, one more thing. The difficulty level isn't as high as I personally would have liked. It really allowed me to breeze through the game, but it was a problem I'm willing to overlook because despite it not being MUCH of a challenge, there were indeed some challenging moments.

So that's another week, another review. Next week may be F.E.A.R.2, it may be a week off due to my being in Canberra. We shall see. Until then, everyone, leave comments and feedback =)

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands

The Prince of Persia: Sands of Time series of games has always held a fond place in my heart. I remember playing the original side scrolling games with all the traps, and when the Sands of Time came out, i was ecstatic. That was nearly 7 years ago, and over the years, two more rather excellent titles were added to the series, as well as one horrible/completely unrelated game.

Each of the games in the Sands of Time Series were well made, but every time Ubisoft took a step forward, it almost always took a step backward. The Sands of Time had excellent writing and characters, but the gameplay needed some fine tuning. The Warrior Within's Combat mechanics had received the attention it needed, but in return, the prince was hit with the Angsty Stick and became a bit of an emo.
Then finally, in The Two Thrones, the gameplay and characters had been improved, but the dialogue and overall presentation had dropped slightly.

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is an Action/Puzzle-platformer title developed by Ubisoft, as an "Interquel" between "PoP:Sands of Time" and "Warrior Within". It follows the Prince as he fights against an army as numerous as the grains of sand in the desert.

STORY
The Sands of Time Storyline has always been extremely well written, and The Forgotten Sands is no exception. The story follows the Prince as he journey's to his Brothers Palace to learn how to be a leader. He reaches the kingdom to discover that it is under attack, so the Prince searches for his brother, Malik.
As his last defence, Malik releases the Army of King Solomon; only to discover that the army cannot be controlled. The Prince must then fight to save his brother, his brothers kingdom, AND to stop the world from being engulfed by this unstoppable force.
As usual with this series, the story is strong; but i fail to see how this really ties into the sands of time story. Yes, at one point, the protagonist mentions his companion from the previous game, but theres no mention of the Sands of Time at all. It just seemed strange to me.
However, this game does show us the Prince's transformation from wisecracking, naive pretty boy; to angsty, tough as nails, cookie cutter hero.

PRESENTATION
The Forgotten Sands presents us with a once magnificent kingdom, torn by War and supernatural terrors. Settings vary from bright, majestic halls, to lush palace gardens; all with a distinctly eery feel to them, making each area feel as though you're about to ambushed by 50 sand warriors.

Speaking of sand warriors, enemies all looks quite awesome, as do many of the main characters; but for some reason, i find myself likening the Prince's face to the kid out of Jumanji, once he starts turning into a monkey. It really is something i just can't get past.

The music all seems very familiar; as its extremely similar to music heard in previous PoP games. It instills an epic feeling in the player, as he/she cuts down hundreds upon hundreds of sand warriors.

GAMEPLAY
The gameplay of Prince of Persia games has always centered around three things; Puzzle-Solving, Platforming and Combat. And The Forgotten Sands returns to form on all but one of these aspects.
First off, the controls are more or less the same from previous games in the series (sure, some actions are button swapped, but who cares?), and it all works really well between both combat and platforming.

Unfortunately, someone at ubisoft said "Lets take most of the acrobatic fun out of Combat, as well as the prince's large repertoire of moves!", and the idea seems to have stuck.
The Prince is limited to a 5 hit combo with his sword, as well as knock-back unarmed moves and the occasionaly jump attack as seen in the other games. However, theres no more vaulting off of walls, no more running up walls then flip over enemies and slicing their nipples off, NO MORE ANYTHING!

Combat was always a central part of these games, but i think the developers really messed up this time around. Its not absolutely shit, but its a stepdown to what it once was. Along with the combat are 4 elemental powers, 3 of which are all visually impressive, as well as adding an extra layer to the combat. Still no replacement from the acrobatic fighting skills of Warrior within, or even Sands of Time.

Platforming, on the other hand, has been revamped with the abilities of Flow, and what I like to call Ruin Recall. Flow controls the flow of water, and gives the Prince the ability to stop water solid, as it is when the player presses the flow button. Ruin Recall allows the prince to recall one set piece of ruined architecture to its former glory at a time.

When both of these powers need to be used in synch with timed platform free runs, players will be tested. Luckily, time reversal powers return; which has always been an excellent feature, because it makes tricky platforming less frustrating (by taking you back about 10 seconds, as opposed to the last checkpoint).

Puzzle-solving returns in this title, but no significant changes have occured in development. It's more-or-less the same difficulty it ever was, with a few harder challenges when flow powers are introduced.

Enemies Spawn en-masse, as opposed to the few enemies that would attack at any single time in the other Sands of Time games. They dont act particularly smart, but that may be because they just want to eat your face or crush you to death. And that makes them silly. But still challenging, in the way that a particularly large Horde of zombies in Left 4 Dead is as challenging as 3 Tanks.

REPLAYABILITY
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands contains a challenge arena with two challenges. These are a wave defense game, where waves of enemies crash down upon the prince for as long as he can handle; and a time trial mode, which appears to be the same thing... but with a time limit. I don't know, i never played it.
Anywho, theres a lot of trophies/achievements to get, and they're some of the most fun trophies I've had the pleasure of obtaining. Like the one where you have to leap on 30 enemies in a row without touching the ground.

Other than that, there isnt a whole lot you can do with this game, except beat it on increasingly hard difficulties. So yea....

OVERVIEW
This interquel to a classic series of games is worthy to be in the same family of games, but certain problems with it; mainly the sluggish combat, really made this game appear substandard to me. And the fact that theres no mention of the sands of time at all makes it as though it could be a sequel to the final game, as oppose to the first. It just didnt make sense to me.
However, its a solid game. Excellent platforming, varied puzzles, fun new powers and an excellent presentation make this game enjoyable.
I just cant help but think that it could have been so much more.

So thats another review done, I hope whoever is reading these is enjoying them. Comment if you are reading, please, either on here or on Facebook. Next week should be F.E.A.R.2 if I can pull myself away from red dead redemption.

Grand Theft Auto 4- Episodes From Liberty City

Now, i used to absolutely adore the Grand theft auto series. From number 3 at least... And the absolute pinnacle of GTA's over the top, pushing the boundaries of realistic games was GTA: San Andreas. It was filled with so much stuff to do, and so many amazing vehicles to pilot, as well as customization up the wazoo. Then came GTA 4....
Dont get me wrong, GTA4 was by no means bad, but after San Andreas, it was just disappointing. But this week, I went back to the streets of Liberty City in "The Lost and Damned" and "The Ballad of Gay Tony" to see if Rockstar had nudged GTA4 closer to San Andreas Perfection.

GTA: Episodes from Liberty City was released on both the xbox live market place, and playstation network, as well as in stores, and was developed by Rockstar North as an expansion to Grand Theft Auto 4.

STORY
The original GTA4 was a dramatic, well written tale of revenge and redemption that didn't really fit with what was expected from a GTA game. The episodes expansion continue this in The Lost and Damned and definitely lighten up in The Ballad of Gay Tony.

TLAD
Players take the role of Johnny Klebitz (the hard as nails biker that players are introduced to at multiple points during the gta4 story) and follows him as he tries to save the remnants of the Lost biker gang. Characters are both memorable, and likable (with the exception of the main asshole and kiss-ass in the game), and its very cool to see Johnny's and Niko's stories intersect at certain points.

TBOGT
The Ballad of Gay Tony introduces us to Luis Lopez, a Dominican ex-drug dealer and bodyguard of Anthony Prince (AKA Gay Tony). He's a seemingly new character, but is introduced during a mission players undertake as Niko Bellic in the main game.
Characters in TBOGT have a lot of personality, and on the most part are actually quite funny and likable, with more intersections with both Niko Bellic's plot and Johnny Klebitz'.

PRESENTATION
Both episodes have a similar presentation to GTA4, with a few little colour tweaks, as well as some musical additions on the radio stations. Graphics and landscape visuals are as impressive as ever, although can appear a little dusty and grimy at points, particularly during night sections. I often found that there were some texture issues when cars got a little too fast, but that was minimal and can be overlooked on the most part.
Character models look fantastic and the voice acting, as per usual with GTA games is quite high quality.

GAMEPLAY
Grand theft auto games have always been about 3 things; Shooting people, Driving fast, and blowing shit up. While this is present, its not without its problems, but lets start from the top. Controls are familiar and work well, although it will always be tedious to have to hold a button to run, then tap it to sprint. I thought we had this perfected, tilt analog stick to walk, push to run. This would free up a whole button, but i suppose Rockstar have been doing it long enough to stop caring.

There are a wide variety of weapons to use on helpless citizens, and they're all fun to use. As well as the standards from GTA4 there are new weapons such as a shotgun with explosive rounds and grenade launchers. The re-introduction of satchel charges to the game is welcome, as it adds a new layer of inventive thought to gameplay.

Cars found in the episodes have pretty much all been seen before, apart from the new armed helicopter, the APC and a few Bikes available to Johnny. As in GTA4, vehicles handle almost too realistically, taking away any excitement from car chases and replacing it with careful cornering.

There are some cool additions to GTA4 that the episodes bring back from San Andreas, such as the satchel charges and skydiving/parachuting. But it still doesn't make up for the horrible vehicle handling, as well as certain missions that can get a little repetitive, but this is mainly a problem concerning the lost and damned's missions.

REPLAYABILITY
Grand Theft Auto has always been, and will always be a game with loads of side missions and scavenger hunts to do, while you aren't just fucking around, that is. Liberty City was built for car chases, gun fights and base jumps, and it will eat up spare time to check it all out.
Along with this, there are multiplayer modes, adding the excitement of multiple players to the open, violent world of GTA. It sure to provide hours of fun.

OVERVIEW
The episodes of liberty city do take a right turn back towards where San Andreas left off, but maybe not enough to bring back those who felt absolutely betrayed by Rockstar North. That all said, I had alot of fun with it, and they both had an interesting story that really got me feeling for the characters, and caring about what happened to them.
The replayability factor is really what makes this game worth the money i spent on it.Episodes from Liberty City is some good solid fun and it just keeps on giving.

This review was a bit rushed, but i hope you enjoyed it. Please leave some feedback and I'll take it into consideration. Cya! =)

Battlefield: Bad Company

So, this week I'm taking a look at Battlefield: Bad Company; a game whose sequel is the biggest contender to Modern Warfare 2's best modern warfare game crown. And there are a lot out there these days, or there will be.
So, lets take a look at the first Battlefield: Bad Company.

Battlefield: Bad Company is a first person shooter, developed by EA DICE. Bad Company puts players in the shoes of a soldier fighting a war between America and Russia, and has him fighting Russians, Middle Eastern forces, and Mercenaries. Before i start with the actual review, i wanna know why games developers dislike the Russians so much; they seem to be taking their place as cannon fodder enemies for so many games these days.

STORY
Battlefield: BC gives players control of Preston Marlowe, a soldier who has been transferred to Bad Company, a squad of ragtag soldiers who are sent into battle before anyone to clear the path for the important forces. Your particular squad is made up of 3 companions, Haggard; the explosives expert who's quite clearly from the South, Sweetwater, the token walking-encyclopedia, and Sgt Redford, who talks so often about his retirement that you'll find yourself waiting for the second his ass gets capped.
Which is kind of a kick in the nads when you get to the end of the game.
The story as a whole isn't the weakest I've experienced as a gamer, but when you introduce the search for gold into what would appear to be a realistic war game, it just loses alot of its seriousness.

PRESENTATION
The landscape provided in BC looks pretty cool, and rather realistic; however its all really repetitive. Players travel mainly through outdoor areas, and they all feel so same-y. Characters all look distinct , and npc's move and act like you would expect enemies to act.
The music gets repetitive really quickly, specifically the menu music. Voice acting is of quite a high standard, particularly Sarge and Haggard; but others like Marlowe and Sweetwater really start to get on your nerves. Marlowe really came off as a bit of a whiny prick, and Sweetwater sounds like a nerd, but that's probably intended.
Sound effects in this game are pretty awesome, and really convey the idea of a savage battlefield.

GAMEPLAY
The gameplay is really where Bad Company shines. Theres a huge variety of weapons and equipment to use, along with many vehicles to pilot along the way. Controls are a tad clunky, but if you can get past this, theres a lot of fun to be had. My favourite part of the gameplay has to be the destructible environments, however they may not be as great as they seem. Theres a hell of a lot of dust each time you explode a wall open, and then theres no large chunks of wall to be found. It's like the destructo-physics fairy just magically teleported the wall away.

The worst aspect of the gameplay is probably the controls. Melee attacks shouldn't need to be equipped to be used, and its easier to click down a control stick than press a button. Also, having to equip a grenade before you throw it may be the difference between keeping your nipples or losing them to Russian gunfire.
Speaking of Russian gunfire, enemies seem to have scoped, xray, infrared laser vision. You'll be shot in so many different directions by opponents who are seemingly hundreds or metres away.

This is all balanced out, however, by the magic life preserving injection Preston carries with him. It makes every encounter easy as all hell, provided you can find cover for long enough to jab yourself. And the amazing thing is that it recharges and theres no limit of uses. This makes the game far too easy, even on Hard. Along with this is the checkpoint system, where if you die, not only will you go back to there, but any work you did along the way will still be there. It really makes the game too easy.

REPLAYABILTY
OK, so Bad Company gives the player the illusion of a sandbox. And with that, comes rewards for exploration; you have the option to go out and find bars of gold, as well as lots of collectible weapons. That's really for all of the trophy/achievement whores out there. Aside from that, theres only the multiplayer that will hold you. And it will hold you; BF:BC's multiplayer is extremely high quality; especially the unique mode of Gold Rush, where you have attackers trying to obtain gold crates while defenders defend. As each crate falls, more of the map is unlocked, and its a really fun game to play.

OVERVIEW
Battlefield: Bad Company is an exceptional game, with an interesting, if a little retarded, storyline; exciting gameplay and intense multiplayer action. Although, the developers made the mistake of making this such an easy game, even on the hardest difficulty level. And some character and presentation settings just bugged the hell out of me.