The_Schnelks

This short DLC gives a lot more insight into Ellie's origins and does a good job of character development with Riley. It also fills in a gap in the original story. The environments are as detailed as before and there a few collectibles that aid in building up the story. The dialogue with Ellie and Riley is really well done. I think this DLC is meaningful and adds value to the TLOU story. If you are someone who played through the original game and didn't care about the story development, characters, or dialogue, you won't like this DLC. It's light on action and the focus is really on story development. The action is still good, just not really new. I think this DLC could have been a little longer and maybe had a little more action, but I recommend it to those who are big fans of all aspects of the original game. Those who value action over story may wish to skip this one, or may want to wait for a price reduction, if possible. I played this on Survivor difficulty and have all collectibles and conversations. It took almost 3 hours and a little replaying for mopping up some collectibles. I had already purchased this DLC via Season Pass.

First off: There are a lot of bad reviews here. The game is not a 0 or 10. The truth lies in the middle. I've played through Leon's campaign and I'm rating this a 6. Here's why: 1. Not enough emphasis on gameplay. The new control scheme is great. Too bad you are doing quicktime events or watching cutscenes so often. 2. Too many useless sequences. For example, there is a swimming portion that serves no purpose. Sometimes you move, see a cutscene, then move, again with no actual gameplay, then watch another cutscene. This is bad pacing and leads to a game that is not as good as it could have been. 3. Cheap deaths sometimes you have to die just to figure out the path forward. Not a major gripe just frustrating. 4. Terrible story. It is just stupid. Not looking for incredible depth but this is bad. 5. Tedious boss battle how many forms can one guy have? 6. Mercenaries seems to only have 3 levels this is not acceptable after RE5. The graphics and lighting effects are tremendous. The new control scheme feels great. The enemy design is good. I feel like Capcom spent more time on making an interactive blockbuster movie than a game. I expected RE5 with fresh tweaks and I got that so why I am I still doing quicktimes and extended cutscenes? Compared to RE5, this is major step backwards. I rated this game a 6 and would consider a reasonable range to be 5-8. Still fun, but I recommend a rental before buying. I would not pay full price for this game. Hopefully I'll play the other campaigns and like them better. If I do, I'll change my review. Update: I've now played the whole game and I think it scores higher. I have to admit that each campaign is different and fun in it's own way. They are also lengthy and there is a 4th bonus campaign (unfortunately not co-op though). I also tried the agent mode and it is a nice addition for some depth. The game is not perfect, but is still very fun, controls well, and is a blast when played with a friend.

Purchased the game on the release date. Played through the single player story on Hard difficulty. It took me 21 hours to complete. Played about 2 hours of multiplayer. My impressions: Story is fantastic. The character development is very good and I liked how the world was fleshed out via optional conversations, newspaper clippings, notes and other artifacts. The graphics are incredible and probably the best I've seen on PS3. (I saw one review compare this to the PC, which is a stupid and meaningless comparison since the hardware is not comparable). The controls are tight, although it took me some time to get accustomed since I don't play many 3rd person games (only played Uncharted 1 for Naughty Dog games). Sound is great, with well-suited music that sets the right tone and some scary effects from the infected. The gameplay is somewhat limited to the stealth mechanic, although you do gunfight with bandits and use a cover system. I like the stealth mechanic and the listen mode, which allows you to listen and then see enemies through walls. Multiplayer: It's a pretty different experience. Teamwork and stealth are important. There is some decent depth in terms of perk upgrades and weapons. It's 4 v 4 so it's pretty important to work together and it can be tough with strangers who don't mesh. I liked it quite a bit but I am still learning to craft items (like in the single player) and move with strategy. I've read some other comments and some thing I do agree with: Once you've completed the single player you may not want to play again since the story is known. There is a Survivor difficulty which takes away the listen mode and a New Game which still allows you to keep weapon and ability upgrades. There are also collectibles to find, some of which enhance your abilities. I looked as much as possible but missed quite a bit. At the Hard difficulty I had to replay much but I think 15-20 hours is probably normal time. The mulitplayer is good, but I'm not sure I'm into it enough to play it for a very long time (i.e. 20+ hours). Still a good amount of content though.There is also DLC coming (for both single and multiplayer) if you are into that. I guess this could be the only criticism that there is somewhat limited replay value but it is there and there are trophies for completionists. I would consider reasonable scores to be 7 -10, anything lower I think is unreasonable but you can decide for yourself. One last point this game does use an online pass so used sales will probably not have multiplayer access.

Overall MAG is a much better game now than when it was first released. I got it at launch and I would have initially given it a 6.5. Now I would give it an 8-9. Don't read any of the initial reviews from the release. The game is totally different from then. The skill tree is huge, with so many skills that even with 70 points (level 70, highest level) with each skill worth 1 point, you can't get them all. There is now a currency system that allows buying weapons, equipment, accessories, uniforms, etc. Maps are much more balanced now that any faction can attack or defend any map in any game type. There are 5 game types, with two game types available as DLC. One is free, the other is 4.99. Both are worth it, but they don't normally have high traffic. The gameplay is good, lag is non existent. My only gripe would be that SVER seems to have markedly better players. At first I had attributed this to map imbalance, but with the changes this can't be true anymore. The other PMCs (Raven and Valor) seem to have less skilled players and playing with them can be frustrating. The developer has no control over who/how many join which faction. I think that many of the reviewers here started with Raven or Valor, struggled hard, and gave up. Those that stick around will find a game that has good team based gameplay with plenty of skills, weapons, and maps to stay interested. Just be aware, if you join Raven or Valor, be prepared to be challenged. I've played with all three, and am finally with SVER after playing through the other two. SVER wins most matches, and dominates some. If you think you have what it takes, play Raven or Valor, join up with friends and prepare for the largest maps and games ever. Just be aware that its not COD Black Ops with smaller maps and more intense close action. With this many people, you are going to get killed sometime by the fact that you are outnumbered. COD Blops is a game where you can definitely succeed on your own. In MAG, even if you are not communicating (no headset) you can still follow squad objectives to help the team and score more XP. If you start out, with no skills, and try to run in guns blazing all the time you will get frustrated. I don't think all gamers really even want to play team based games, they just want high kills and to "pwn". For those that want more, try MAG. At the price the game is at now, you don't have much to lose.