AllThingTrivial

Well this is one way to address the complaint its impossible to be evil in the base game, make a totally incongruous DLC that doesn't have a good or middling option worth discussing and doesn't remotely mesh with the rest of the world. Mods have done a better job of allowing you to become a raider, the unique radio station for example is only available in Nuka-World as a stark representation of how far separated from the main game it actually is. It starts off well enough, three raider factions at each others throats being held together badly by an overboss and tensions bubbling aplenty. I expected a dedicated faction system for each raider group, political and practical quests ie from handling negotiations and deciding who to support the most to out and out violence. I wanted to slowly get to know the groups as I earned their trust and they mine before the Act II drama kicked in. I had expected to be able to shape the park how I wanted it, to learn how to manipulate each raider faction by what it held dear (ie money, strength etc) and realise they too had been manipulating me in plot twists along the way. I wanted to be forced to choose, one faction would have to go once I was well established as the situation was too unstable ie rumours of a planned coup make their way up and a show of raider esque strength is required as I have no idea who was planning it I would have to pick a faction to make an example of however I so chose, force their submission by bringing the other two factions to their doorstep (making them permanently dislike me and lock off all but main quests), sneak in and kill their leader then either sneak out again and lean on whoever takes over or blast their leader out in the open as a show of strength and their faction disposition would define their reaction ie the Pack would accept me as 'alpha', I'd have to kill all the disciples due to their loyalty. I could even turn their area into a visual reminder, order the other two factions to crucify and otherwise grotesquely make examples of them - all in the day of a raider. What I got was a ten minute introduction to the factions where they showed they had a single trait. They were literally parodies of good storytelling. "We like money" "We like strength" "We are slightly mad" (all things raiders obviously like because they are raiders) then the game demanded I plop down flags for factions I have no investment in. After quicksaving and taking the good option to deter my frustration (that option ****, it makes the DLC like twenty minutes long and you can't even control the rest of the park afterwards for no apparent reason) I set about thinking well search and clear isn't a bad start, I suppose I would need to show them I'm actually capable before getting involved in the politics or the higher end goals and controlling the park would be a good first step as a goodwill gesture. Once I'd done that the game replied "Thanks now piss off, go talk to somebody if you want to change the aesthetics of commonwealth settlements. Bye". I felt cheated. It was like seeing half an inaccessible map on the Pitt DLC, or the Legion lands in FNV that were inaccessible making them a rubbish choice (as nearly every trader was in a NCR controlled settlement) except there are no signs they rushed it, rather it seems phoned in. Worst of all though it still didn't make you feel evil. Not only did it not match up to your actions in the commonwealth where the worst you can be is a slightly condescending jackass, there is nothing inherently evil about what you do. You rock up, clear a bunch of enemies and leave. Even establishing the settlements isn't that evil, shooting innocents is bad for sure but it's simply not raider levels of evil. Compare to say fallout 3 where within six hours I had blown up a town for money, joined a group of slavers and sold them a bunch of people including a child who had just lost their parents, killed and burned all the caravans and said the worst things imaginable to every person in existence including telling a town besieged by super mutants they were all going to die and I didn't remotely care because I could loot their corpses afterwards. I then cut out the middle man by killing them and taking all their stuff. Fifteen minutes in I murdered a random woman in a house because she had a lot of bottle caps on her. FNV was equally varied, I was a murderous great khan drug runner who signed up with the legion and murdered and maimed NCR, their people and their settlements and displaced/butchered tribes in honest hearts because I could. Good and evil comes from excellent world building, shades of grey and no predisposition to a certain solution. Fallout 4 completely lost this element, it fails to build a world and let you tell your story - rather it tries to tell a story it wants and pretend to let you choose which comes off incredibly shallow. It gets its solitary points for awesome armor, weapons and enemy/environmental design.

A typical fromsoft game exactly as would be expected. Well almost. Firstly there is the standard suite of issues, non-corporeal cover, camera randomly unlocking, a strange issue unique to this iteration in which swiping attacks will considered to not be blocked by holding your shield up as the game hitboxes them from the side (i doubt this is intentional as it is inconsistent) - but any returning player will be used to them and any new player will learn to forgive eventually. The visuals aren't as striking or interesting as bloodborne, I thought fromsoft was taking a step in a new direction but it has come full circle castles, castles, hallways and castles though there are some nice varied environments interweaving in unexpected places such as a poisonous swamp which is basically this games Blighttown, overall they arent as striking as they could be. This isnt helped by a lot of weapons and armor being recycled. Granted there is some necessity for this, the world wouldnt ever move on that much and you cant really have dark souls without the sword/axe/dagger/spear dichotomy but again when compared to bloodbornes transforming barrel-o-fun tinker toys especially after the release of the old hunters (imo a shining example of how DLC should be done and one that can only be made by expert storytelling in the base game) its a bit lackluster. Having different movesets on similar weapons is nice, I liked that i ended up using a different basic sword because its charged r2 was a thrusting attack with increased range as it shows good design. The weapons system in terms of upgrading is appropriately varied, the magic seems far more balanced (except in PvP but you can't expect them to nerf an otherwise legitimate build so it comes with the territory) and generally the combat system is competent. However the mobs are some of the most artificially dangerous in the whole series. They have moves of different speeds tied to the same windup animation making it incredibly hard to dodge and for some bizarre reason all enemies get hyperarmor on attacks which powers through yours so unless you fancy trading damage, which you don't have enough estus to do, the only solution is to block or dodge around like a lunatic as enemies can now use flurries of varying lengths (which I like) but this only plays counter to the fact they can't be staggered out of an attack by reading it and reacting first - a dex mainstay. Oddly it works in PvP so no idea what that's all about. This gets especially irritating with enemies who have super amounts of stamina and just spaz out constantly like outriders making fighting them far from pleasurable and one of the few experiences i would ever say is genuinely unfair (alongside the Anor Londo Archers in DS1), particularly when they can kill you in two to three hits, move lightning fast, can't be interrupted but can interrupt you. And they're not bosses, and you have to fight a long way to get to them, and as they're not bosses they dont have points when they stop attacking or have to recover. Generally however the combat is the standard fantasy batman awesomeness where you'll feel rewarded for success and learn from failure and this leads into the bosses. As always some are a joke, some bounce like a basketball, one in particular is deliberately programmed to punish dodge spamming which is hilarious and really put peoples ability to the test. There are irritating gimmicky ones that just frustrate but as per usual these are what people play the series for, intense pitched battles and a real fist pump feeling of success. As always the bosses are interesting and visually distinct from everything else in the game whilst looking like they ought to be there, though it seriously lacks the lovecraftian horrors like Ludwig the Accursed, Amygdala and the moon presence which brought bloodborne to life, but with the source material they did an excellent job of establishing variation with a couple of exceptions when you have to rely on a certain gimmick to kill a boss, yhorm and the enchanted sword being a particularly stupid example. All in all the more things change the more they stay the same and whilst I'm happy overall I cannot understand why some of the design choices were made except in aid of a pretense to difficulty claiming DS3, the last in the series, would be the hardest. Artificial difficulty and messing with players learned instincts over four games isn't difficulty. Its ****. Its an intentional **** move. These complaints will subside as you play however it has the same addicting three in the morning quality as you'd expect from a dark souls title.

Retrospectively replaying the game, its definitely better than I originally gave credit for. It demands your attention long after you think you have finished with it and despite the annoyances it really is a game for the ages. It is a souls game in heart and mind but cuts out the annoying BS that made souls (particularly demons souls) so damn inaccessible

Its a fun game with a lot to do but will leave no lasting impression. Nice whilst you're playing it but nothing inspires or exceeds expectations, its above average but cannot - in good conscience - be considered as a great. Positives; Its Just Cause. If you want a ridiculous game with very few rules and even fewer ways to enforce them then look no further. As is series tradition the game allows truly crazy and awesome stunts from placing mines on a moving plane, jumping from it and swinging it into a petrol station for an enormous explosion to turning a vehicle into a battering ram bringing down enormous structured whilst dragging a cow from the tow bar. If you can think of something to do with the mechanics, chances are it's possible and in that respect the game has a great deal of freedom not arbitrarily imposing restrictions. The gunplay, aiming, movement and fluidity of controls is excellent as perhaps should be expected though for stupid people like myself, some of the controls can get confusing by their similarity. As open world sandboxes go, its well designed and has plenty to do which isn't restrained by a fantastic movement system which allows traversal of the map in minutes despite its considerable size. The artistic choices are next, plain red for bad, blue for good however there are a lot of nice visual touches that really add to the game and it is highly appealing in its style. Having allies tag along is worthwhile for the extra chaos they add to the situation (unlike many other games where they become a frustration). Having them detonate a fuel tanker unexpectedly sending you spiralling across the base watching the war unfold below is just cause to a tee. The high health makes these mistakes add to the situation rather than become annoyances. Plus points for having tag alongs be enjoyable. The amount of content itself is good and despite being the typical pointless disconnected nonsense, the levity of dialogue is enjoyable. This comedic element extends to the story and characters who are so over the top and genuinely amusing at times that they have infinitely more personality than perhaps could be expected and unusually this blends perfectly with the actual gameplay. Finally the upgrades system is well implemented with points systems allowing progression through skill trees thus rewarding perks by skill which is an intriguing system. Negatives Too limited in weapon choice. There are few choices available and you'll quickly have experienced every weapon in the game. Story is weak both in telling and missions. If its not protect someone or something with a health bar its basically an open world activity again. There is no significant plot, no wow moments of spectacle or events that exceed the main game for the most part. In such a ridiculous game, a logical step would be to have a hundreds NPC strong battle with many rocket launchers, tanks and helicopters between them, the whole campaign is spent waiting for a payoff or crescendo of chaos which never comes. There is no proper development and no craziness substituted to make up for it, merely moments that remind you of the lost potential particularly as many missions are hoping and praying an NPC driver wont crash into a tree and freeze there until they inevitably get killed forcing a mission restart. Its a classic dictator v rebel story but doesn't seem to have the energy or effort to live up to the expectations it sets implicitly. The open world is very similar to everything ever. grab bag of pointless and random quests with outposts to liberate, all in samey - albeit with a far lesser decline in fun value - fashion that does limit what time can be put into a single session. TL:DR/Conclusion A solid base of good gameplay mechanics and fun let down in part by over similarity of concept as well as a lack of effort or wasted potential in the story missions both in terms of story and content.

Shadow of Mordor is a game well worth buying provided one can subscribe to the fact everything in the game is based around killing orcs. Luckily, the game makes this incredibly fun. I have played for near on thirty hours, finished the campaign and most of the main side activities and can safely say the game is excellent but decreases towards the end when the power to manipulate the enemies becomes available. An interesting concept, it actually plays off against the - as far as my gaming experience goes - nemesis system as it is too easy to reduce the difficulty massively by simply gaining control of a few powerful Orc chiefs and though the obvious argument not to do it exists, the game will be played as presented. It takes discipline from the player not to trivialise the remaining fifth and the culmination of the campaign is vastly underwhelming. The campaign as a whole leaves much to be desired with elements still being tutorialised half way through and mismatched story elements of characters introduced and thrown away without any grounding or context making them glaringly obvious as story contrivances. However the story seems nothing more than a way to develop the skills and abilities in an organic fashion to grant absolute chaotic freedom in the core gameplay. The gameplay itself is standard timed counters, attacks, special attacks and careful manoeuvres to strategically position against enormous hoards of enemies but for me the fun came earliest when, grossly underpowered the emergence of a second or third powerful Orc chief or captain into the fight made it a case of either flee or see how long until death occurs. Usually the latter. Death itself as a purpose and regeneration is explained adding a nice degree of levity to the 'gaminess' and further allows organic development of the game world which can also occur through power struggles. This - and the nemesis system that supports it - is easily the best element of the game, finding a particularly annoying Orc who kills you over and over again allowing his friends to power level is frustrating and engaging in equal step. The variance of enemy types and abilities in terms of traits is enough to keep it interesting and the high number of orcs constantly on screen is a joyous combat experience as they level through the ranks. The nice thing is each person will have a unique experience. In conclusion, a great game with some small issues that lets itself down with a brief and unfulfilling story that rushes towards an underwhelming climax and a difficulty curve that is inverse to what it should be with the branding ability far too overpowered with the Orcs having no chance to break free and equally the player having limited control over how their minions handle the situation selecting at random from a rather too small suite of events without any context or sense. But despite these **** and small complaints, the game holds attention with a reasonable sandbox and interesting environment design but crucially the one facet that everything is based upon - the combat - has been done excellently.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Firstly it has to be noted that Killzone Shadow Fall is obscenely pretty, containing a graphical fidelity that is fitting for next generation and experimenting with new environments and close attention to detail. Make no mistakes the vistas are stunning and at first glance the game will take your breath away but unfortunately this effect doesn't last. Firstly the parallel with history continues, from the obvious **** undertones of one through three this time a cold war scenario has arisen with the Helghan on one side of an enormous wall and the Vektans on the other both supposedly at peace whilst running covert ops that appear to be the least covert in all of history considering the amount captured people, botched operations and indeed the player themselves being captured comes into play. The story dismisses this potentially interesting concept in favour of recreating another standard unremarkable plot of FPS staple based around some nondescript terrorist group who have decided to cause trouble because reasons. The plot is at best unremarkable leaving no considerable impact even when it sets itself up to do so, threating mass catastrophe or death with a mission that despite the Shadow Marshals, that is the Vektan Black Ops, apparent multiple membership only the player character can be sent to do anything and as such it throws away the subtexts and smaller pieces in favour of pushing the ham fisted main storyline forwards in an absolutely nonsensical way particularly given from cutscenes alone if logic was applied the player should be dead several times over. The actual main plot is not enough to hold attention with several blaring gaps such as an early mission [*SPOILERS*] where trains are turned into mobile missiles and the Vektans lose control of the system but do not simply use the emergency stop to cut off electricity leaving them useless rather shovelling the player into obviously deliberate level design [*END SPOILERS*] Worse the human element of the story disintegrates as the player is thrust into the role of an elite soldier who can take on entire battalions alone, defeat impossible odds etc and it all gives the game an inconsistent tone as one minute there is mass remonstration about the horrors of the Helghast and the atrocities of the continuing war then the game thrusts you into a fantastical situation demanding you defy all odds to save everyone. Its a very detached experience and the AI doesn't help one bit being very short on brains or programming as your allies refuse to move up unless you hit a trigger point twenty feet ahead of the logical regroup point or throw yourself headlong into enemy bullets for several minutes and in the few occasions you have help you almost wish you didn't. Having said that the gunplay is weighty and the balancing feels spot on, they're not so heavy as in two nor are they as floaty as three and guerrilla must be commended for finding this balance. The levels compliment such gunplay being multi-dimensional and allowing multiple approaches across various floors and areas is a lot of fun only this gets removed in favour of linear corridors later on and there are still the unnecessary sequences which will frustrate turning into trial and error repeats of ill thought out areas. Largely however the level design is excellent and when combined with the gunplay extremely gratifying although enemies in wider areas respawn quicker than you can find ammo to remove them making it annoying when you clear an area for a flanking manoeuvre, have to run from a grenade, come back and everyone is alive once more. The game certainly attempts some innovation such as the OWL companion, a standard roster of appropriately textured and excellent sounding space age weapons but refuses to go anywhere with what it innovates being unsure of the power of next gen as of yet which is to be expected but it still leaves the elements feeling a bit too empty particularly when they're coupled with a total lack of guidance. Normally games lead you by the hand to an excruciating degree, but Killzone does the opposite with so much beauty on screen it's nearly impossible in some cases to work out where it is you're supposed to be going. There are also some RPG elements such as audio diaries and the like which add a nice overall tone and make the world seem more alive and draw you in with optional exposition to support the events around you in an attempt to connect them or to provide more information than the cutscenes alone and any such collectibles are welcome whatever the game may be undeniably adding to the experience. Ultimately killzone is a solid and graphically beautiful FPS that has some minor innovation but a bog standard plot, forgettable characters and whilst a solid level design that for the most part is different and fun a lack of appreciation of its own depth in this respect at points. It is not by any means bad simply not the huge leap to next gen some may wish for.