GamingCharged

Trails Fusion, the sequel to the wildly popular Trials series aims to blow its predecessors out of the water. The game is slated to release April 16th for the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS4, and an April 24th release for PC. RedLynx and Ubisoft pulled out all the stops on this game with tighter controls and enhanced graphics. So strap on your helmets and lets throw up some dirt as we get into the nitty gritty of Trials Fusion. Trials Fusion delivers a healthy dose of white knuckled adrenaline rush action, and man does it feel good. I found myself squirming in my seat on several occasions due to amount of intensity this game packs into each and every level. Trials Fusion offers a career mode that has several different landscapes or “Events” with their own climate and scenery. Your objective is to reach the finish line of each level and collect your medal. Medals are awarded depending on your clearance time and how many times you crashed or “faulted”. Progressing through the levels earns you new apparel, bikes, and body kits. Included with each level are 3 challenges, just little quirks you can do to gain some experience points. Some of these challenges can be finished with relative ease while others might make you stop and think **** plan. Each Event also has a training level just to familiarize players with obstacles they will be facing in later tracks. My personal favorite was the training level that teaches you how to properly perform stunts. I enjoyed the idea of spreading out the training levels across the Events so that way I didn’t have to sit through one long tutorial. Along with the training levels players will also come across Skill Game levels that can also be complete for metals. These Skill Games can range from achieving the highest altitude off of a ramp to scoring a huge stunt score. In my opinion these are some of the best levels in the game and I wish there would’ve been more to mess around with. Players can customize almost anything they want in this game. Anything from costumes, body kits, and wheels can be interchanged and used to make all new combinations. Not only that, but if you can customize it, chances are you can colorize it to your liking as well. Players are offered a whole color wheel of different choices allowing you to truly stand out in the crowd. The different costumes are awesome and can be earned from leveling up or earning various achievements throughout the game. This goes the same for wheels and body kits which can be earned in several different ways. Feel free to customize everything to your liking and become your own creative identity. Now before we go any further i wanted to make a point to talk about the game controls. When it comes to being tight and well tuned Trials Fusion scores big. I felt I had complete controls of my character throughout the game. I was able to position my rider for a safe landing from ramps and falls with relative ease. Of course being able to do so is just determined on the amount of time you dedicate to the game. These controls are so simple and yet so well refined that I feel like RedLynx wanted you to know that if you crashed it was your fault, not the game’s. The implementation of the Trick system was really cool and added so much intensity to the game and a made players pose a challenge to themselves. The addition of challenges and skill games really made this game enjoyable for me and added a lot to the replay value. The early Events are pretty easy and rarely require you to let off the gas. As you progress through the Events making it to the finish does become a bit more of a challenge, especially in the last 3 events. In fact, my only complaint was that I felt that the learning curve was too extreme, it starts off easy and next thing you know you’re having to bunny hop across a ravine and ride up a almost perfectly erect wall. This quarrel however can be written off as just me lacking the skill to maneuver the bikes properly. That being said this game does require some time and patience. I’ll admit that I had over 50 faults in just one level. While it was frustrating to say the least, completing that level gave me an overly joyed sense of accomplishment. For our readers who are completionists and aim to 100% everything, you guys are in for a treat. The landscapes are absolutely beautiful to say the least. Trials Fusion runs at a silky smooth 1080p and 60fps for the PS4 and 900p and 60fps for Xbox One. The environments were so surreal and sometimes the environment interacted with the rider in ways that were incredibly clever. This relationship also worked in reverse, having the players impact the environment just by completing the level or certain challenges. I experienced no frame rate drops or rendering issues while playing through the entirety of the game.

Take a trip to the past with Retro City Rampage DX, an eShop title released by VBLANK Entertainment inc. I’m honestly not sure how exactly to categorize this game based off of it’s gameplay. However, after playing the game to what I consider to be it’s full extent, I can say it is something that people will have to experience to fully understand. Although Retro City Rampage has already been released on other consoles, the 3DS received the DX version which has a lot of updated technical and visual enhancements. So if you have played it once, I would highly consider playing it again for an updated experience. Welcome to Retro City Rampage DX, you take on the role of….Player…(yep) a greaser looking hooligan who is never up to any good. One day Player is approached by the Jester, a psychotic maniac who is always looking for the next big score. After a heist goes wrong, Player is transported to a distant future via a porta-potty style TARDIS.(Linked for those non-whovian readers) From there is he discovered by Doc Choc (who may or may not drive a DeLorean) who believes Player is the time traveling “hero” and offers to fix Player’s now broken time travel device. Your job is to help the Good Doctor (see what I did there?) find all the pieces to repair the time travel booth. Gamers from an older generation might recognize most if not all of the parts needed to repair the device. Explore Theftropolis city and find the necessary repair items, and meet a few oddly familiar characters along the way. I would say something heroic like “defeat the evil” and what-not but honestly, you’re the bad guy technically so have fun! When I first picked up Retro City Rampage DX I was kind of thrown off by the style of gameplay it portrays. Now this might sound odd so stay with me. It’s an 8-bit “open world” action genre style game with tons of killing, side quests, and…killing. In my opinion its kind of like somebody took Grand Theft Auto and smashed it into an NES cartridge, and to be honest it’s absolutely beautiful. The handling of the characters, vehicles, and weapons is very reminiscent of older games and uses it perfectly to it’s advantage. Roaming around the city is tons of fun and there is plenty to do aside from the main story mode. Now of course a game with this many references must draw gameplay from other games right? Yup, totally. When it comes to large action scenarios where you are against tons of enemies the gameplay is very similar to the style of Smash TV, or Binding of Isaac for you younger gamers. Although Player may be outnumbered vastly he is by no means outgunned. Players can equip Player (what’s up PLAYA!!) with a variety of weaponry from mini guns, rocket launchers, and even a guitar to take out the hoards of enemy troops. Although it may get repetitive to a certain extent I can’t say that I grew bored with the style and actually enjoyed it a lot. The story mode is fun, and it’s honestly the best way for Players to familiarize themselves with Theftropolis. The campaign can be considered as rather lengthy, some might even say repetitive but that’s up to you to decide. Plus with the fact that players can easily get distracted roaming around the map mowing down civilians and police units, it tends to be a lengthy campaign. Not only that but there are also side quests that include doing random task for the Theftropolis citizens. Although the game may start out really easy to some players the difficulty curve goes up really fast the further along you go. Although I was trying my hardest to beat the game quickly and enjoy it, I have to admit I died well over 70 times. To be honest certain missions are infuriating and I found myself putting the game down and walking away. Some players might enjoy the difficulty and some may find it to be too much to bear. The benefit of doing side quests and story mode is that there are tons of collectibles to be earn including haircuts, outfits and even character skins. (some might even be familiar to you) One of the details I enjoyed the most was the fact that Retro City Rampage DX doesn’t mind making a joke or two at their own expense and they shed some light on the video game industry as a whole. Players can also enter free roam mode which is honestly the best way to relieve some stress. I highly suggest stealing a car and driving down the side walk until your problems are washed away. For players that are looking for a quick pick up and play I suggest the Arcade challenges that are fast and challenging. Be careful though, the challenges tend to rather addicting. (You have been warned) I really enjoy a game that can also include some mindless fun and no objective style gameplay but still have the option to have an awesome storyline. When I’m presented with a game like Retro City Rampage DX I usually don’t care too much when it comes to graphics or art style. Let’s be honest, its not very difficult for the average joe to make an 8-bit character and make a game out of it.

I have never played a Yoshi’s Island game in my life. I know, it sounds bad!! Before playing Yoshi’s New Island, I read up on some of the reviews already written up on the interweb, and was staggered to see so many low scores. After seeing these negative reviews, I decided that I needed to see for myself. Let’s just say I’m glad I took the risk. Yoshi and Baby Mario are back in an adventure to bring peace back to Yoshi’s Island, and save Baby Luigi from Baby Bowser and his minions. After the events of the original Yoshi’s Island, the Stork finds out that he brought the two bros to the wrong parents! It’s up to the Yoshi’s to search for the rightful parents. Also, Kamek wants to steal the babies now that they are without a home once again, so you’ll have to worry about him and his gang. You assume control of the kindhearted Yoshi’s that inhabit the island, taking turns carrying Baby Mario through each level. If you take damage, Baby Mario will fall off your back and float in a bubble until you catch him. Be careful; upon losing Baby Mario, a counter will appear on the screen. If you can’t make it on time, Baby Bowser’s minions will capture the little guy, forcing you to start over from the beginning of the current level. At the end of each level, the Yoshi you played as will pass Baby Mario to the next Yoshi, who is ready to dive into the next level. Nice teamwork, guys! The only difference in the Yoshis is their color; they all control identically. New to this installment are the Yoshi transformations. When passing through a transformation gate, Yoshi changes form. Whether you are a drill, helicopter, or submarine, you control your movement with the system’s built in gyrosensor (motion controls). This is reminiscent of Yoshi’s Topsy Turvy, a GBA game. What’s a good game without an equally thrilling multiplayer mode? Yoshi’s New Island features a number of mini games to play with your friends over local wireless. Like any good Nintendo handheld game, you are able to play with your friends via Download Play even if they don’t have the game. This is always a welcome addition to a multiplayer, and it also helps owners of the game get their friends to buy it as well. This is the best-looking Yoshi’s Island game to date, hands down. The hand-drawn, storybook-esque visuals are a key ingredient in the game’s formula, and they are a perfect fit for the glasses-free visuals that the Nintendo 3DS provides. As is the case with most 3DS games, screenshots just don’t do this game justice; it looks at least 95% better in person. The music matches the game’s playful vibe, with what seems to be an orchestra of kazoos in the background. Remember the Van Gough inspired Starry Night level in New Super Mario Bros. U? Well, the same level of creativity was used in this game. That my friend, is a very good thing, trust me. Nintendo wants YOU to share your gameplay data with them Wait. Nintendo actually cares about what their fans think? That’s what the new SpotPass feature in the game would suggest. You are able to opt in or out to have your gameplay data automatically sent to the developers at Nintendo for research and ideas for future development. How many people played the game all the way to the end? How important were the Easter Eggs and secret passageways to the players? What was the most common strategy used to get to the end of each level? Thanks to the game’s SpotPass feature, you, the player, will answer these questions and more. This may not seem like all that big of a deal now, but if Nintendo continues to monitor gameplay (with the player’s consent of course) this could lead to more streamlined gameplay in the future, which means better games for us. As someone visiting the island of Yoshis for the first time, I thoroughly enjoyed the game, and feel that the developers at Arzest did a fantastic job at adding new features, while staying true to the Yoshi’s Island series. I can’t compare Yoshi’s New Island to the other two games on SNES and DS, but I can tell you that it won’t disappoint as a standalone title on 3DS. I look forward to finding all of the Easter eggs and other extras during my second playthrough.

This probably isn’t the first time you’ve seen the name Bravely Default. If you haven’t then I would assume you are probably sharing the same first impression that we all had: “WHAT DOES THAT NAME EVEN MEAN?!” I know; the developers couldn’t have picked a more awkward and confusing name if they tried. Despite the strange name, it has done remarkably well in the West. The game received overall positive reviews from critics, and even topped the spectacular launch sales of Fire Emblem: Awakening last year. You’re probably asking, what’s the big deal with Bravely Default? Why is it so great? Find out in my review! In most RPGs, your party starts out small and slowly grows to somewhat of an army, but the developers decided to keep things small. In this game, you assume control of 4 characters. All four adventures come from different backgrounds and cultures, but are forced to unite due to the severity of the events that transpire. Tiz is a shepherd from a town that was literally swallowed up by the ground. His friends and family were all lost in the destruction; he was the sole survivor. Agnés is on a quest to bring power back to the four crystals, and is accompanied by an energetic fairy girl. Ringabel is an insomniac with a book that supposedly predicts the future. He’s also quite fond of the ladies. Edea actually met the caravan while trying to take Agnés captive on her ship. Once she realizes that she’s the one working for the bad guys, she joins your cause. This is only the beginning… Gameplay is the main attraction, and is what makes this game stand out from the rest. Bravely Default combines the traditional JRPG formula with some game-changing elements. You are able to tailor your gameplay experience to your liking. That means difficulty settings, enemy encounter ratio, and more are customizable – and at any point in the game. This makes the game very welcome to newcomers, as well as RPG veterans. When exploring the game’s world, you will never see enemies just waltzing around on the map. Instead, you enter battle via random encounters. Battle selections are essentially the same as other turn-based games, with two big twists. Brave and Default. That’s where the game’s strange title comes in, for those of you still wondering! Selecting Brave lets you take an extra turn during battle. You can take up to four extra turns at a time with Brave with all of your characters. If you play this way, the character you used will have to sit out of battle for the next three battles. This is totally fine for one-turn battles, but during longer battles, you can’t afford to take the risk of making yourself vulnerable. That’s where Default comes in. Select Default during battle to skip your turn and gain Brave points (BP). When opting to Default, you will be less vulnerable to enemy attacks. Once you get enough BP, you can unleash your multiple attacks on your foes one by one. This is an amazing feeling when done successfully, and it makes the entire battle seem worthwhile. Well done, Silicon Studio. Such a simple concept, yet so satisfying. Did you know that this game is a spiritual successor to Final Fantasy: The Four Heroes of Light on DS? The art style is pretty similar, and even the character models and enemies share similar attributes. While the graphics aren’t anything out of the ordinary, the hand-painted backdrops feel as if they were taken right out of a storybook. When you stop moving, some locations will zoom out to give you a bird’s eye view of the entire area. It would be nice to have an option to toggle between the views while moving, but it still is great to see these pieces of art in their full glory. Menus are user-friendly for the most part, with the exception of few out of place selections. I have some very mixed feelings about the game’s voice acting. I’m glad it’s there, but I have to be honest and say that it is second-rate at best. For example, some characters deliver their lines rather slowly. Because of this, I found myself getting in the habit of just reading the text and skipping to the next line before waiting for them to finish. It’s unfortunate, too, because the story is pretty charming for the most part! Music is very reminiscent of any traditional JRPG. With that being said, it’s somewhat forgettable, but still fits the game. Although you don’t have to pay too much attention to detail to notice some blemishes in this game’s presentation, the good outweighs the bad in the end. N3DS_BD_Screens_07Features There are a ton of extra features aside from the main game that will enhance your experience. SP, an entirely new concept, allows you to stop time during a battle and deal extra damage to your temporarily frozen enemies. However, these points are obtained at a cost. One way to gain SP is to leave the game on and put your 3DS in sleep mode for 8 hours. If you’re

High Definition Quality Batman Arkham Origins Blackgate Deluxe Edition is not the full HD quality that I expected. When compared to its previous games like Arkham City and Arkham Origins the quality in my opinion can be compared to an early PS3 launch title. Not to say its bad but when you get really close to a character model in certain scenes it really shows, and it isn’t pretty. In fact quite a bit of the details that should be hard lines to emphasize the abstract between colors and patterns is quite blurry. That being said the game runs pretty smoothly, there was one or two occasions where the frames skipped but it wasn’t too bothersome. Maybe its just the fact that its in HD but for some reason I found the character animations to be very cheap and cheesy. I’m sure it looked just fine on the 3DS and Vita but it looked rather odd in this case. The scene that portrays it the most is in the first few minutes of the game where Catwoman is STRUTTIN HERE STUFF, and for some reason her legs looked like flimsy noodles. There was just something about the movements that threw me off. Maybe I’m just being picky but its my review dammit. batmanMapAdditional Features Since I was playing this on the Wii U I have to discuss the additional features. Although it wasn’t much I did appreciate the fact that the map was displayed on the gamepad while you are exploring the inner most depths of blackgate prison. What I didn’t like was that I couldn’t move the map around without pausing the game. In addition to this feature they also included off T.V. gameplay which is great seeing that its one of the Wii U’s selling points. Although I may not utilize it as much as some other people I have to say it is a very welcome feature. batmanwallpaperConclusion I honestly wish I would’ve liked this game more. When compared to the previous installments in the game I can’t help but be disappointed. I found the story, gameplay, and graphics to be OK but rather lackluster really. Not to say I didn’t enjoy certain moments and maybe this is a game that you might enjoy. For me however, I prefer my batman games to be free roam and not as linear. The 2D was OK but honestly I felt like the controls were half assed. Its like I was just playing an adventure platformer and not a classic batman beat em up. However, Mr. Greg Boe really did enjoy the game so maybe his review is worth a read if you are looking for a more optimist view on the game. I give this game a 7/10