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It has been Eighteen years since we seen this uniquely cell shaded first person shooter first appear on the Gamecube, PlayStation 2 & X box; it is now back fully remastered on PlayStation 4, Switch & X box one. With older generation games being ported over to newer systems they do usually pretty well for the nostalgia factor, unfortunately that is not the case here. You play as a man with no name and no memory the only thing we know about him is that he goes by Thirteen who has been framed for killing a high level politician. He is arrested and questioned by the FBI in which he escapes with aide of agent Jones. Throughout the game you are trying to put the missing pieces together to get your memory back and who was trying to frame you for the assassination. The story reminds me of one of those movies that you see every few years you know the one where the really good cop gets set up and framed for something he did not do by his boss or one of his colleagues, then goes out for redemption a movie like that but with really bad voice acting, I also need to remember the game is Eighteen years old as well. The game play is where it gets interesting to say the least, unfortunately the game play is very lackluster and full of bugs. This is a first person shooter so normally I know what to expect with XIII it took me by surprise. The audio was off when it came to people speaking the mouths would still move but there was no sound. The gun would fire but the sound of the gun going off would be delayed by a full second. The way the enemies interacted with my character felt very unnatural, it would take almost an entire clip to just kill an enemy and the way the enemy fell when you killed them was comical. The game play almost felt like it had a stability problem through the entire game from popping in an out of a frozen state to having to restart a level because the command prompt to opening a door would not appear became quite frustrating. Sadly to say XIII is a let down the only unique thing it has going for it is the cell shaded art style. The story feels like it has been done before a lot in video games and movies. The game play unfortunately did not live up to the expectations of what it use to be; also the game is just not very fun in general at this time & point in video games. XIII 2/10 Reviewed by ICE at Gamers of the Round Table.

Hello everyone and welcome back to another exciting review from ICE at Gamers of the Round Table. 2K is back at it with another year of NBA action, does this year edition make a slam dunk impression or does it just become another air ball flop? Lets find out. I want to talk about the development team for this generations version of the game, (PS4 & X box one). The developer only had half a team working on that while for next gen they had Two or Three teams working on it. Game play: The overall game play remains the same as it did in NBA 2K20, it feels more like a patch than a new game with some minor differences. First thing that is new is the shot meter which I feel like is a downgrade compared to 2K19 and 2K20 shot meter; it feel more like an arcade version which is rather disappointing you do have the option of turning it off though. Not only is the shot meter disappointing but the shooting is not as good as it was in 2K19 and 2K20 what I mean by that is it does not feel as good as it did in previous instalments, the only thing 2K added was new shot animations and more pie charts for your my player build. The game play itself is solid though but unfortunately it’s the only thing that is solid on this generations version. Controls: The controls are the same with a few minor tweaks such as the aiming stick for the shooting, which is really annoying because we did not need that in the first place it can mess up the ball handling. I myself went in to the controls and made them classic by taking the aiming stick off and using the right stick for the handling. The classic controls are what work if something is not broken 2K please do not fix it. Modes: There are many modes in this years installation of the NBA2K franchise, my favourite to this day is still my career. In this years my career you start off in high school and make you way through college and in to the NBA which is something I have wanted for a long time in a career mode. My Team: This year really is no different when it comes to this mode accept you can transfer your team and the virtual currency over to the next generation. The Neighbourhood: The neighbourhood got a huge cosmetic overhaul but that is all it got, it still takes about 10 minutes to get an actual game going, mostly people just stand around and it is incredibly frustrating, but that is OK I still enjoy it when I do get a game. NBA 2k21 just feels like a patch from NBA 2K20 in some areas it is good some areas is bad, but it is still fun. NBA 2K21 7/10

Hello everyone this is Samurai from Gamers Of The Round Table, and today I am sharing my review of Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1+2 on the PS4. Before we go into the review, I thought I should add some history about the series. Tony Hawk Pro Skater first premiered back in 1999, a year later the sequel premiered, and both have been ported to multiple consoles such as the PlayStation 1, Nintendo 64. When you start the game, you feel somewhat nostalgic as you look through the roster of skateboarders from the original cast of skateboarders, to new ones added. Not to mention, with the music with the original soundtrack and new songs added, you can't help but feel like you have played it before with a new look. Completing the challenges, relying a large part on your memory of where to go, also collecting the elusive VHS cassettes, yeah remember those? Their are a number of updates to the levels some small. For instance the hanger level having the cover art for all the games in the series, the mall now is a derelict mall with nature claiming it. The game is all about racking up longer, and longer combos, with grab, flip, lip tricks, and specials like The 900, or Indy Back flip. The graphics have been improved considerably for a new generation, however the graphics could have been made more realistic. As evident in the previous game ,when you crashed, you used to lose a little bit of blood making you feel like it was a bad fall! Now when you fall, the game rewinds your character to a standing position. Online multiplayer has been added; with a set number of modes as you try and out score, or combo other gamer’s online. Although their is no option to add a friend to the game lobby, the game still includes the traditional 2 player split screen for a couch game such as horse with a friend and let you choose what you want to play. Now while I enjoyed reviewing the game, I found a major drawback in the form of the challenges. While some of the challenges range from easy to difficult, a lot of them become repetitive especially when you have to complete the same types of challenges with every skateboarder. Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1+2 is a game worth playing again for fans of the series to reminisce over and to new video game fans wanting to try something different. I would give it a score 4.1 out of 5.

Mafia Definitive Edition Review It has been 18 years since we have seen mafia on the original X box and PlayStation 2, Hangar 13 and 2K continue with the franchise by bringing the oldest instalment to new light. Does this remake become the boss of all mafia games or should it have just stayed as a friend of ours? Lets find out. Story: The story in Mafia takes place in New Haven a re-imagining of Chicago during in the prohibition era, so we are playing the era of Al Capone, John Dillinger & Bugsy Siegel. You play as Tommy Angelo a cab driver who gets taken by gun point by the Salieri family during a shoot out with a rival family turning Tommy's life around. You start off as a simple errand boy as you do in the life of the costanostra and you move your way up in the family fast to taking the omerta & becoming a made guy pulling off liquor heist with the rest of the crew who are memorable characters Paulie and Sam. As you progress through the story you get your self in a little bit of trouble and now are looking for a way out for the safety of you and your family; so what do you do you turn informant. By doing this you are telling the entire story to the police and you are living that story. Game play: The game play is not your typical open world shooter, it is very linear though there is no side missions to do at all just collectibles. It works very much the same way and action adventure 3rd person shooter works. Using cover, blind firing & my favourite part of this is that it works like an old school game you have a health bar that if you lose all your health you die; this added to the fun for me. The shooting is a bit more difficult then previous games because Vito & Lincoln were military trained while Tommy is just a street guy. Graphics: The game does look a little bit dated but hey I get it its an 18 year old game but the updated graphics do look nice. There are some lighting issues I noticed which seems to a pattern for Hangar 13 and the games they release. There are some textures that will appear out of no where which seems to happen a lot too this also seems to be a pattern for Hangar 13. Verdict: Mafia Definitive Edition was a breath of fresh air for me and was exactly what I needed when it came to a new game it was linear and it was not and RPG, it kept me entertained on my toes a little bit & kept me guess. Mafia Definitive Edition 6.5/10 Fun!

God of War is nothing short of a masterpiece when it comes to video games. Everything in this game leaves a huge impression on me, this includes, game play, writing, graphics, story, character progression and everything else on the table. Kratos makes his return on the ps4 this time; we have not seen him since God of War ascension back in 2013. Set in the Norse mythology instead of Greek mythology, with the past catching up to Kratos just as his wife has passed away and his son still at a young age. He decides it is time for his son to learn how to survive in his brutal world. Filled with monsters, giants, ogres and trolls, while Kratos is stern with his son he is also sensitive to him as well almost giving him a human side to him instead of making him the one-dimensional character we have seen over the past decade. The way these two characters interact with each other is incredible the only thing I can compare it to is The Last of Us. Kratos acts like a tough father but when it comes to certain things in the story, you can see the emotion in his eyes and hear it in his voice, which is something we rarely see in the world of video games especially in God of War games. With Atreus, he has the accurate traits of a child his age asking questions about the world, questioning the love of his father and a bit of attitude when it comes to certain subjects in the story. These are the human traits, that we want to see more often in video games. The combat does a 180-degree turn when you compare the combat systems of the older games to the new one. In the new game, you are carrying an axe that just destroys anything its blade touches. As you progress through the game, you will get experience points so that you can unlock new moves with the axe, and as you level up you need to collect certain resources either in chests or off dead enemies, to upgrade your weapon to the next level. Progressing through the game, you run in to a blacksmith named Brok and his brother who can help you make things, like chest & wrist armor for you and Atreus but once again, to upgrade them you have to have certain resources and enough silver. The world in God of War is open but it is not open at the same time. I know what you are thinking how does this work? you can be in a area that is quite open and has many different paths, but it all leads to somewhere whether it be a chest, a mini boss fight to get an element for a piece of gear, or upgrade it, it all leads somewhere. Everything that happens in God of War left me wanting more of the series, some moments left me speechless, sad, and angry and in some cases even happy. I have only played one game like this in my entire life, The Last of Us and God of War is no exception of how spectacular it is. This so far is my game of the year so far. God of War 10/10 a Perfect Score Good job Sony Santa Monica and Playstation. Reviewed by ICE at Gamers of the Round Table.

Developed by the team behind Brothers a Tale of Two Sons, Hazelight studios brings a new title featuring co op mechanics that I have never seen in a game before, and it could not have been done any other way. A Way Out tells the story of two different characters, Leo a short-tempered common criminal with a soft side when it comes to his family, and Vincent. The characters have been wrongly convicted by the same man, and end up in prison. About ten minutes into the game, Leo and Vincent start interacting with one another, realizing they are after the same person and want to escape for prison to get revenge. From this point on, we see Leo and Vincent work through numerous situations together in order to complete tasks to get out of prison. After the prison break, you find out why these characters are after the same person, you find out about the problems in their personal lives and together the characters try to fix the problems. Working together is essential in this game every situation you must be done together. I realized how much of a co op this game was very early on, the specific situation, when Leo and Vincent are taking the back of the cell toilet off the wall and using a chisel to break the wall so they can crawl through. While one character does this, the other character watches out for the guards passing by and distracting them. Throughout the course of the game, there will be different ways to do things. You have a choice of doing things Leo’s (aggressive) way or Vincent’s (calm and smooth). Throughout the adventure, you get to compete in little mini games with your co-op partner like a game of darts and baseball or arm wrestling. This is a great action-adventure indie title; there were times I was on the edge of my seat, like during the prison escape, the hospital escape & the motorcycle chase scene and the final twenty minutes of the game. I had a great time playing with my friend and co host even though I did not have a the full game I was able to play the trial version all the way through as long as he was playing as well. With that being said the game did have some issues, texture popping issues and some of the shooting mechanics; It should not take two or three head shots to kill an enemy. The game could have done without the shootouts at the end but it was a nice change of pace for the last half hour of the game. A Way Out is more than I expected in every aspect, from the story to the game play & character progression. It falls in a genre we do not see enough of now days (couch co-op). With some great unique game play mechanics this is a breath of fresh air with a bit of minor problems it is so fun; that you will want to go back and see what you can do differently. A Way Out 7.5/10 Reviewed By ICE at Gamers of the Round Table.

The potty mouth 4th graders, Cartman, Kyle, Stan & Kenny are back. Matt Stone and Trey Parker bring us another adventure in the video game world rather than on the small screen. Does the new installment in this franchise hold up as well of the first one? Let us find out. South Park the fracture but whole picks up right where the first one left off. You are still playing the middle age’s game for about five minutes, during this time it will give you a quick over view of the new combat system. At the end of those five minutes, you run in to Cartman, who has switched games to superheroes. Once the game switches over, you start at the bottom of the food chain when it comes to your popularity. You will then have the story of the game explained to you; you are looking for missing cats in South Park in order for a reward so you can fund your super hero franchise. There is two sides of the super heroes, the coon and friends & the freedom pals who are in a civil war. In the story line, they are making fun of the marvel cinematic universe. As you progress through the story you find out there is more to it than just finding the cats for a reward there is a darker side to it than just what meets the eye. The Game Play in South Park is just about the same as the first installment but a little bit more in depth, especially when it comes to the combat. This time you move along a certain amount of spaces along a grid to reach your target. Each move you do has a different range of attack, which adds a nice variety to the combat. Don’t worry about going in alone it never happens. On your side you can have up to three different sidekicks like The Coon, Captain Diabetes, The Human Kite, Mosquito and much more. Each of them offering their unique abilities to help you on your journey throughout South Park. A few of the new additions to the game play is crafting, you can build costumes, consumables and more. Throughout your adventure, you will pick up artifacts, which gives you more strength for your attacks it is highly recommended especially towards the end of the game when you need a might of 500 for some missions otherwise you will have a difficult time completing these missions. South Park is a mix of open world; turn base combat, RPG game. When you are travelling through the world you will run in to characters who will assign side missions to you this will help you get new artifacts and level up. South Park the Fractured But whole is a proper and wonderful sequel, keeping the humor of the show, adding more to the combat and exploration. I loved by 18 hours of game play I completed the story was able to complete all the side missions except for two of them and get all the collectibles & I hope a third one comes out this is one title you don’t want to miss this year. Score: 9/10 Reviewed by ICE at Gamers of the Round Table

Talion is back in a continuing adventure in the land of Mordor. Following the events of Shadow of Mordor, Monolith Productions and Warner Brothers brings us Shadow of War. Does Shadow of war rule middle earth or should it have been burned and destroyed along with the rings? Let us find out. Story: The story picks up right from the events of Shadow of Mordor you are back playing as Talion and Celebrimbor. In the very beginning of the game, we see them making a new ring to fight against Sauron and the Azgul. There is a war happening in middle earth in this installment of the series between the Orcs, Uruks and Olacs and the Minas Ithil. You take sides with Minas Ithil to help them win the war; however, down the line you find out there is a traitor in the Minas Ithil. In the story, we run in to new characters that have an effect in the story like Shelob, a woman who can turn in to a big spider, which is cool in my opinion. She takes Celebrimbor as a hostage in exchange for the ring you created, so that she can take on Sauron herself. As the story continues, it became more confusing because there was so much going on with all the different characters and became less interesting as I progressed through it. There are four different acts throughout the story the second being by far the longest. Game play: The game play in Shadow of War is pretty much the same as the first one but with more RPG elements. However, it adds a few things as well; we still have the fighting style that we have seen in the Batman series. One thing I really enjoyed and found very annoying at the same time was the fortress raids. In order to progress through some of the story you need to take over these fortresses to clear the region. While doing some of these missions you feel like your weapons are never strong enough to defeat all the captains at one check point, but luckily I was able to beat this game without using the micro transactions. Throughout the game, you will brawl, use stealth, manipulate and climb your way through Gondor. Another feature I found in this game that was a bit tedious was building your own army. How you do this is by recruiting captains after you weaken them and they help you when it is time to do a fortress raid and take on the overlord of the fortress. This is not mandatory but it helps when it comes to difficulty but I just found it tedious. Game play design is not great in this case and unfortunately is one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to games. When you clear a camp, it should remain cleared and not have the enemies re-spawn. As you progress through the story you will run in to a fair bit of collectibles like artifacts and memories which are words that go to a poem that unlocks a door and behind that door is a high level armor or weapon. Conclusion: Shadow of War is a fun game but by the time, I hit the Twelve-hour mark I felt it became very lack luster, and I just wanted to be finished. It has lot of new additions to compare to the first one, but does not feel as polished. The story is far less interesting and has a lot going on with it between the characters and your character that is becomes hard to follow. With some game play flaws that are very noticeable it becomes very lack luster just a few hours in to the game I struggled just to finish it but the pay off at the end of the game was worth it. Shadow of War 6/10 Average

Knack 2 Review. Studio Japan & PlayStation brings us another adventure featuring the lovable relic hero in the Knack series. Created by the very talented team over at studio Japan and directed by Mark Cerny. Is Knack 2 a proper sequel, or should it have just remained a one hit wonder? Let us find out. Story: In Knack’s all new adventure, we see the same heroes from the first game (Lucas, Ryder, Charlotte & Dr. Vargas.) In the beginning, the heroes uncover a statue of Harion, a hero who defeated the goblins and titans during the crystal wars. We find out that the high goblins and titans are coming back to life to destroy the human race. During our adventure, we make new friends and enemies, like Ava and Xander who have a monastery full of monks trained to fight against the goblins and titans. Gameplay: Knack 2 is a platformer beatem up; through each level, you will punch, kick & jump. However, as you defeat enemies you can unlock new moves and powers. A lot has been added to the game play, which is nice, but is it enough? Let me start by talking about the added moves like the kick and the hook shot. These moves add a nice variety when it comes to the combat but once you figure out how to defeat a certain enemy you end up using that move repeatedly. Puzzles have also been added in Knack 2 while only a few are tricky, the majority of them can be figured out within a minute or two but they are a nice addition. My thoughts: Knack 2 is what the first game should have been in the first place, with number two actually having platforming in it. I felt the combat became repetitive by the 12th chapter, I felt the characters were quite bland except for Lucas, Ava and Xander. However, I love what has been put into this game compared to the first one. The story is just long enough to keep me interested and is nowhere near as challenging as the first game, which is a good thing giving all the types of enemies. Knack 2: 8/10 Good job PlayStation & Studio Japan

Team 17 & Mouldy Toof Studios bring us The Escapists 2, a top down strategy game. You must escape many scenarios; like a prison for example. There are many ways to escape a prison, but that is not all you do. Following a schedule and protocol is necessary to keep out of trouble. There are many ways to escape from the levels, by acquiring a variety of items; like weapons, keys, and uniforms. Collect these items by taking them from prisoner’s desks or earn coins by doing tasks for prisoners and buying the items from other prisoners. The prisons are not just in buildings this time. There are prisons on trains, submarines, airplanes and much more. As you progress through the levels, they become more difficult. You must collect keys in order to unlock more levels, which can become frustrating. As you try to escape while time is running out, you must cover your jailbreak attempt with an item such as a desk, masking your attempt during inspection. The Escapists 2 feels like a great sequel and is truly a unique experience. The Escapists 2: 7/10

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Crash Bandicoot is back with a whole new make over, Activision brings us the three original games that originally came out in the 90's, Crash Bandicoot, Cortex strikes back and Warped. Does this hold the nostalgic feelings we deserve or does it leave us frustrated with no end to be seeing? let's find out. Crash Bandicoot is a wonderful platformer that took me back to the days of Mario, Donkey Kong & Mega Man. Your evil nemeses in these games, of course, is Doctor Neo Cortex who is trying to get all the power crystals, so each level you go through in the second & third game collecting those power crystals is a must, other than that getting from the beginning of the level to the end is the main goal, and defeating enemies by jumping on them or spin attacking them is just awesome. That is only the tip of the ice berg when it comes to these games collecting apples to get enough for extra lives, destroying all the boxes for an extra gem at the end of the levels. Let's talk about the levels, some of the levels in this game are absolutely gorgeous when it comes to the new design and updated graphics, with that being said some of the levels are so difficult in parts it will make your turn gray if you are in your twenties like me, some of these levels would take me up to forty-five minutes to beat but none the less I had a great time with them and the game took me less than a week to beat which is great, because I never got bored I was being challenged but not to the point where I wanted to give up. I found as the games went along though they were getting easier, I don't know if that is because I was getting accustomed to the challenge or if they were made intentionally to be easier. The N Sane trilogy may have been beaten but it will not soon be forgotten it is everything I needed in a game right now, it may have been frustrating at certain points but I had fun every step of the way. Crash Bandicoot: 8/10 Reviewed by ICE at Gamers of the Round Table to buy or rent Crash Bandicoot N'Sane trilogy go to ****

Atlus brings us another installment in the Persona series, this being my first time playing in the history of the franchise, should this prevail justice or should it have just stayed in Momentos? let's find out. In Persona 5 you play as a high school boy who has just been transferred to Shujin Academy in Tokyo, forced to leave his home after being put on probation for being framed for assault of which he did not commit. Your character stays with a guardian by the name of Sojiro, and upon arriving there you realize there is a strange looking eye app on your phone and you delete it and unfortunately, it keeps popping up on your phone. When you arrive at Shujin Academy you are pretty much the most hated student there because of your criminal past, it isn't until the second or third day you meet Ryuji and Morgana; you are on your way to school and somehow the eye app on your phone activates itself taking you to another world where people who need a change of heart are showing their distorted desires and showing what they think is rightfully theirs, in this case, a palace so your job is to go through the palaces and steal their treasures to change their hearts. After the first occurrence, Morgana explains to you how you are a phantom thief, someone who can go to another world and change the hearts of others, but it is a little more complicated than that in this case, you have to find your next target whether it be a big time crime boss, politician, teacher or hacker; find out where their palace is, invade it, find the treasure, send the calling card, fight this person in order to steal their treasure and this will change their heart. As you progress through the game you will find more companions to go through the palaces with you, Seven others if I am not mistaken. The Gameplay in Persona 5 is nothing like I have ever seen before when you are in the palaces you use stealth a lot to ambush your enemies, once you get into a battle it is turn based. This Persona is a bit different from what I have heard you can not grind in 5 as much as you could in others which is unfortunate especially when you want to level up; not only do you level up but your companions do as well and your personas. When you are not out changing the hearts of authority figures you are living your life like a normal high schooler, studying, hanging out with friends, holding down a job, having relationships, taking school tests and exam, and so much more. As you progress through the game you will see your relationships increase with your friends and others which give your perks in and out of the castles. Persona 5 was one of those games if I was not playing it I was thinking about it or talking about it, a great game that really brought me into the love of the JRPG world. Persona 5: 9.5/10 Good Job Atlus To rent or buy Persona 5 go to **** Canadas number one video game rental service

Netherealm and Warner Brothers bring's us a sequel to Injustice gods among us, Injustice 2; Does this fighting game compete as a number one contender or a chump? let's find out. Injustice 2 takes place after the events of One still feeling the effects of Superman turning evil after the joker got to him, but this time it seems that Gorilla Grodd and Brainiac are behind the evil plans this time. Batman and the rest of the Justice League (minus Superman) team up together to take down Brainiac as he attempts to destroy the world. During the duration of the story, we see new characters come in to play like SuperGirl, Cyborg, Harley Quinn and so much more. Progressing through some of the heroes we see become overturned or brainwashed if you will and join Brainiac in his mission to destroy Earth just like he did Crypton. Sometimes in the story line, you will have a choice of two heroes you want to fight as it's only at the end though that it makes a difference of the storyline if you choose to play as Batman or Superman. The ending is a bit different than most fighting games because we see the team divide a little bit, in the end, depending what happens to Brainiac while Batman is about bringing him to justice, Superman wants him dead. The gameplay is just like the previous one and Mortal Kombat now that is good and bad at the same time. Some of the heroes fight flat on the ground while others float in the air which well can be somewhat annoying, I get it you can fly do not really need to emphasize on it. The fighting in this game is not the greatest either the moves list is a bit lackluster when it comes to variety, and one thing that really grinds my gears about this game is I do no like having to enter the entire button combination before it will actually do the special move I just wish it could be more react quicker when I do the combo move like in Tekken or Dead or Alive. Injustice 2 is a great game, however missing some of my favorite characters DC universe, the story was short, but gave you the opportunity to play as everyone it was short and sweet. The customization in this game is deeper than any other fighting game I have played in my life and it is something I can appreciate and hope to see more of. This is your normal fighting game with a story, Arcade, Online, and Multiverse mode. I hope there is a third one with a bit more characters, better and more responsive combos. Injustice 2: 7/10 Good Job Netherealm and Warner Brothers Reviewed by ICE at Gamers of the Round Table

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Developer Red Barrels brings us Outlast Trinity a combination of Outlast 1 & 2 on one disc, Red Barrels brings survival horror to an all new level with these two games, is that enough to make it a loved franchise or forgotten in the dark? let's find out. Both Outlast 1 and 2 feature the same style of gameplay with a few added things in 2, you play in the first person view as reporter's Miles in Outlast 1 investigating an incident that took place at an insane asylum coming to discover experiments have been conducted on their patients. The patients of the asylum have become very psychotic and are looking to kill you before you escape the asylum. In Outlast 2 you play as Blake who is on an assignment investigating an 8-month pregnant woman as you approach your location their helicopter crashes. You wake up in the dessert in Arizona finding the pilot skinned alive and Lynn has been taken by a cult because they believe that she is pregnant with the antichrist and you are the father; so you want to get out of the Supai region and get Lynn. During Blakes horrible nightmare he keeps getting flashbacks to the school he went to as a kid revealing how his friend Jessica died in that school. Like I said previously these two games have the same gameplay style, you are running around two creepy locations with your only way to see is a camera light and the natural and rare occurrences where there is a light. In order to keep using the camera lights, you need to collect batteries or else the light goes out. You will have run in with enemies but there are locations you must hide so they do not catch you or else you will die a horrible gruesome death. The only difference in gameplay is in number 2 you have a microphone on your camera that can track sound, and you record some things to collect evidence which is really annoying because you do not need collectibles in these type of games it is really tedious. Outlast 1 and 2 are both very good at bringing the psychological horror to life with no weapons, just a camera to keep you alive is a very thrilling and terrifying experience all at the same time. Making it better than Resident Evil Biohazard which was released earlier this year. Outlast Trinity:7/10 Good Job Red Barrels Reviewed by ICE at Gamers of the Round Table

Playtonic & Team 17's debut's their game on the shelves, a kind of game we do not get often in this generation of consoles. Yooka laylee a 3d platformer that gives us a flashback to the 90's to Banjo Kazooie, Mario 64 and Conkers bad fur day; which would make sense because it has been developed by some former employees of the hit company Rare. Does team 17's debut game hold up today or should it have been left in the past? let's find out. Story: You play as a lizard named Yooka and bat named Laylee, who are out to collect 145 golden pages that have been scattered throughout the five worlds; and this is all thanks to the evil Capital B and his lackey Dr. Quack as they try to make money from all the world's books and keep the money for themselves. Gameplay: Yooka laylee has a very resembling gameplay to the Banjo-Kazooie series, during your adventure you will run, jump solve puzzles, defeat enemies and complete numerous tasks to collect all the pagies they are known as in each world. During the course of the game, you will run into trouser snake to buy more moves from which will help you in your journey to take down capital B. Conclusion: There is a thing or two that is lackluster when it comes to a game being released in this generation. There is no talking in the game the characters just make wierd noises, back in the 90's that was ok and acceptable but now it just seems very strange to do. Yooka laylee is a very colorful, fun platforming adventure game that brings back a flash from the past, it is a game that is not meant to be beaten in a few days it will take time to collect everything. Playtonic and Team 17's debut game it's the nostalgic heart with that sense of being a gamer in the 90's again. Yookalaylee: 8/10 Good Job PlayTonic & Team 17 To Buy or Rent Yooka laylee go to **** Canada's largest and number one video game rental service. Reviewed by ICE at Gamer's of the Round Table

Warner Brothers and Traveller’s Tales bring us another action adventure game in their re-occurring Lego franchises, only this time it is a title that has been out for a while on the WIIU, but has been brought to us on the Playstation 4, Xbox one, Nintendo Switch and PC. Warner brothers and Traveller’s Tales presents Lego City Undercover. Story: Lego City Undercover is an action adventure game where you take on the role of a police officer by the name of Chase Mccain, making his return to Lego City after being away for two years. Upon his return, he learns that the evilest criminal in Lego City (Rex Fury) has escaped from prison and has been infesting the city with crime. So now it is up to Chase Mccain and the Lego City Police to stop all the crime in Lego City, and take down Rex Fury. You begin by just doing work with the Lego City Police, but further down the line you go undercover to work for the cities most notorious crime bosses in order to get closer to take down Rex Fury. Gameplay: Lego City UnderCover is an open world, action-adventure game. Think of it as Grand Theft Auto for kids and lego form, with less serious missions and cheesy one-liners and wonderful references to classic spy and cop shows like Starsky and Hutch, Mission Impossible 2 and Shaft. You have your main missions which are a lot of fun to do they are your typical puzzle solving, collecting as seen in previous Lego games, using your cop skills to take down enemy foes with kung fu and other hand to hand combat tactics, as well as free running as you traverse along the rooftops of Lego City. As you progress through the story you will unlock more outfits so you can complete special actions during main missions or are out traveling in Lego City. The main story in Lego City Undercover is one thing but there is more than enough to satisfy you in the side content section, from building super builds like call in points for vehicles, blowing up silver statues, collecting pigs and watering flowers around the city. Its all around a great experience when it comes to the gameplay. Conclusion: Lego City Undercover delivers when it comes to quirkiness with its jokes and one-liners, the references to the cop and spy movies is a nice touch for someone my age, because I get them. The gameplay is some of the most fun I have had in a while when it comes to the open world genre I am glad to see it does not take itself to seriously. The only thing that really was not enjoyable about the game was a number of collectibles, I mean you don’t really need 450 gold bricks to collect that is a bit too much. None the less the game is still very much enjoyable. Score 8.5/10 Good job Warner Brothers and Traveller’s Tales Want to buy or rent Lego City Undercover? then go to **** Canada’s largest video game rental service. Reviewed by ICE at Gamers of the Round Table.

San Diego Studios bring back the lovable MLB The Show Franchise, with some new features that are a nice welcome. MLB the show 17 is a step up from last year's installment, you instantly take notice of this by creating your character in the Road To The Show mode. You start off by choosing your primary position, throwing hand, and your batting hand. Once that is complete you will then choose which region you want to represent West, Central, East or International; from there you will go through the customization process of your character. The customization in this year's installment is much more depth this year compared to others. Once you are done creating you go right into scouting day and hope you perform well to impress the scouts to go play for a major league team and they're farm teams, and from there you will go through the MLB draft. Another great installment this year is dialogue and the more personal interactions with your coaches from batting all the way to the head coach, this makes me feel like there are good and bad relationships with the coaches depending how you perform on the field. So you take control of your created custom player and make your impact on and off the field in the MLB and win the world series and become a legend and hope to be inducted into the MLB hall of fame. That is not all that is back, Diamond Dynasty makes it's creating your fantasy team by opening up packs of players spending currencies on players etc , you can also unlock equipment in various modes especially in the road to the show, but in diamond dynasty it's all about building your fantasy team and proving your the best. Ball physics plays another major role in this year it's no longer linear when the ball is in play it can change direction a little if it hits the slightest bump, hits a foot or even bounces **** this is quite a nice edition because it makes it that much more realistic and I love that it feels that way. Another new edition that has been added this year but is very lackluster is Retro Mode if you remember games like Ken Griffey Jr present Major League Baseball that came out in 1994 it's almost exactly like that and it is a mode I did not enjoy at all because of the controls, but if you are new to the baseball this may be a good mode to get you started. MLB the show 17 is a step up from its predecessors with the all new ball physics, the dialogue in The Road To The Show mode, dynamic difficulty adjusting, and deeper customization this is a must pick up this spring. MLB the show 17: 9/10 Good Job PlayStation and San Diego Studios

Ubisoft Brings us another new title showing there not afraid to take risks when it comes to trying something new. For Honor brings us some of histories greatest and noble warriors, the Vikings, Knights, and Samurais squaring off in a history battle royal. For Honor is a great concept with a wonderful, fresh and unique battle system that delivers well. You start off the game creating an emblem on a shield, after that is complete you have the choice of playing through single player or multiplayer; there is no really point in playing single player unless you want to unlock stuff (This is mainly a Multiplayer game). From there you can choose which multiplayer mode you want to take part in, duel ( 1 VS 1), Dominion ( 4 VS 4), and Brawl ( 2 VS 2). I really enjoyed playing duel the most the other ones I was carrying the people I was playing with and then getting destroyed; after you choose the mode you want to play you choose the faction you want to represent, and from there you can choose three or four different warriors from that faction that are all unique with different weapons and move sets. For Honor is a solid game with a cool concept and great gameplay, but it suffers terribly from the peer to peer network it can take minutes to connect to an opponent, while in game your opponent can glitch out on you so much making it impossible to play and giving you a loss that is a huge problem. For Honor 5/10 To buy or rent For Honor go to ****

Lego Worlds Review ICE, Gamers of the Round Table Traveller's Tales & Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment bring us a whole new Lego game, nothing licensed; Lego Worlds is like a breath of fresh air with potential, but fails to grab my attention. The game starts off in space and your space ship breaks down; it’s at this point you will begin to do a little customization of your character. Once you are finished with customizations, you will enter the first world which is the pirate world. Your objective is to collect enough gold bricks to repair your ship and go to the next world; you do this is by completing tasks for people in this specific world. Exploration is critical when it comes to completing tasks; along your journey you will pick up tools and as you use these tools you can complete the tasks assigned to you later on in order to get a gold brick. As you explore each world you will find characters to interact with, whether it be just talking or fighting and as always in each world, you pick up Lego currency which will be used for building things with your discovery tool; each discovery cost different amounts to build. Building in Lego Worlds is a large part of the game, but to compare it to Minecraft seems a little unfair when you look at all the freedom that you have when it comes to building in this game. You can build whatever you want with various Lego pieces in all shapes, sizes, and discoveries; building is a key element when it comes to completing certain tasks. When you are looking to travel to a new world you must go into your space ship and it gives you several options; there are only four worlds that seem visible and they display how many gold bricks you need to unlock those worlds, but the more you collect the farther and bigger worlds you can go to. Off to the side there are menus and buttons that give you options of what you want to do next, but it’s not clear what each button or menu allows you to do. Your options in this menu, go to a randomly generated world, do a free build which cost 100 gold bricks. Lego Worlds has great ideas and really fun worlds, but failed to amaze in a way that other Lego Games have in the past; Lego Worlds comes off as a crossover between Minecraft and No Mans Sky. Lego Worlds 5/10

Ubisoft brings us a new title in the Tom Clancy franchise, Ghost Recon Wildlands. Ghost Recon is a long awaited open world, co-op game in a new location I have never experienced in a video game before with an all new enemy, Does this game get consumed by the Wildlands or does the ghost team reign supreme? let's find out. Story: You and your special operations team start off the game by entering Bolivia and meeting agent Karen Bowman, as you make your way to the extraction point Karen is briefing you on the mission (operation Kingslayer). Your mission in Wildlands is to take down the Santa Blanca cartel and stop there terrorizing of the Bolivian country, Corruption of politics, Cocaine Distribution, kidnapping the rebels (Resistance against Santa Blanca Cartel). Once all the territories are cleared you then have the chance to go after El Sueno who is the head honcho of the Santa Blanca Cartel; as you progress through the game and clear regions you end up taking out the Cartels lieutenants by destroying their plants, communications, and convoys. Gameplay: Ghost Recon Wildlands is an open world third person/First person open world game that pushes co-op, but I prefer to play it by myself that way I am in complete control of myself and my team. The team in this game plays a very big part by aiming at certain enemies to take out at enemy bases that you assign to them; it's not all good though your team can be spotted very easily, at often they take forever getting to a position to get a clear shot on a target, and they sometimes do little support during a gun fight outside of a vehicle. The gameplay is fantastic from customizing your guns anyway you want too, the leveling up perks like your drone, squad, and gadgets, but when you are out there doing the missions and side content it becomes very repetitive after a few regions are cleared but that is ok I find, because it is still a very exciting game you just need to take breaks. Stealth is a very important part of this game when approaching enemies and enemy bases because if you go into a full blazing gunfight you're going to die. Traveling is another thing that has issues all on its own, you can go off road with vehicles but don't let me get stuck on a rock with a dirt bike. The controls with some air vehicles are not great which is unfortunate because I love going as high as I can and jumping out and parachuting. ConClusion: Ghost Recon is a fantastic game, that unfortunately, you need to take breaks from due to repetitiveness, it reminds me of movies like Act Of Valor or Lone Survivor. Co-op is pushed in this game but is not needed to have a great experience, a great story with good gameplay good but not great due to glitches and technical issues with the driving. GhostRecon Wildlands: 7.5/10 Good Job Ubisoft. To rent or buy Ghost Recon Wildlands go to **** Canada's largest game rental service.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard Review ICE, Gamers of the Round Table Capcom is back with another installment of the Resident Evil franchise, taking the series back to its roots of survival horror. Does this installment live up to its origins or does it feel more like an action game? Story: In Resident Evil 7: Biohazard you play a character named Ethan who goes searching for his missing wife Mia; she has been missing for three years in Louisiana. Upon your arrival in Louisiana, you encounter a psychotic family named the Bakers, but there is a dark secret behind their driven madness. Your goal is to save Mia and escape the Baker mansion. Gameplay: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is a first person psychological survival horror game. You go around exploring the Baker mansion and the grounds, collecting items like antique coins, keys for certain doors, exploring puzzles, and fighting off the molded (enemy type) with weapons from handguns to grenade launchers. This is the only the beginning of the game; you never know what is going to be around the corner. Filled with many jump scares and psychological horror, you will beg for the game to be over. Each baker family member is a boss fight but they are not too difficult which is nice, and as you get farther into the game you dig deeper into finding out what is behind their madness, discovering that things are not always what they seem. Conclusion: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard delivers a punch when it comes to the horror; from the classic feel of a messed up house, things moving around and hearing sounds, the puzzles, finding hidden rooms where someone may be kept prisoner, in no way does this game fall short. It is worth the eight hours of your time. Resident Evil 7 Biohazard: 9/10 Good Job Capcom. To rent or buy Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, go to ****

NIOH Review ICE, Gamers of the Round Table Team Ninja and director Fumihiko Yasuda, who has worked on other team ninja games in the past such as Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive, has brought us an all-new IP with the title of NIOH developed exclusively for the PlayStation 4. Does it live up to the challenge it promised or does it fall down in history? Story: Set in the Sengoku Period in Japan, you play as the protagonist named William. William comes from the west; his purpose in Japan is to pursue an enemy by the name of Edward Kelley. When you arrive in Japan you find how easy it is to make enemies, unfortunately in this case, it is Tokugawa and his assistant Hattori. While you progress through the game you realize that Edward Kelley is making your journey more difficult using dark arts. Gameplay: The gameplay is almost exactly like the Dark Souls series, but with some variety. Through the journey of NIOH, you use an arsenal of samurai weapons and skills, but this game is no walk in the park; it is extremely difficult. The smaller enemies you can approach and strike three times (usually) to kill them, but the bigger enemies require skill: timing, managing your stamina, and using the battle area to your advantage is required in order to defeat the bigger demons. As you progress through the game you will acquire better weapons, armor, and unlock better skills with experience points you gain through victory. You will come across a variety of weapons including katanas, bows and wooden hammers. Conclusion: NIOH is a game that took me by surprise. Although the game was incredibly frustrating, it was rewarding every time I defeated a boss; I felt like I really accomplished something. I could not help but love this game from the time era, to the culture and the weapons of the Samurai, something that has always fascinated me. NIOH was something very new to me as a gamer, and I could not put it down. With great action and a compelling story, this game is definitely worth picking up if you are fans of the Dark Souls series, or are looking for a challenge. NIOH 8/10

The Last Guardian Review Alex the Kidd, Gamers of the Round Table From the makers of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus comes a new adventure from the team at JAPAN Studio. The Last Guardian, a title under development for the better part of a decade, arrives to the PS4 an entire console generation later than anticipated. The question is whether this title lives up to its long anticipated release. The Good The Last Guardian is a beautiful game. The details put into Trico, the large feathered beast, clearly show the dedication that went into this project. The environment is massive in scale to both characters, and players can feel completely immersed in the world of the game. Each set piece requires the characters to work together to overcome the obstacles placed before the player; taking direct control of the young boy, players will attempt to guide Trico to progress through the game. The bond between boy and beast develops through the player’s success, and communication improves between the two. The challenge in many parts of this game comes from communicating with Trico, and getting him to perform the tasks that need to be done. Players can feel a sense of accomplishment from achieving successful co-operation form the two characters. The Bad The challenge in this game stems more from the ability to guide Trico then the actual level maps; what was made to feel like a creature that had its own attitude and intelligence can come off as a broken game mechanic at times. This is especially true when you use all the methods to guide Trico, nothing happens, then you run around the area trying to figure something out, only to have Trico jump up onto the ledge you thought he couldn’t reach in the first place. The controls to guide Trico aren’t user friendly, and can be difficult to understand exactly what it is you’re trying to get Trico to do as the camera tends to pan to Trico as you give commands. There isn’t much to do here except move from set piece to set piece, and while they are beautiful to experience, the game can feel less engaging at the beginning. There is little plot or drive in the game beyond working with Trico, and discovering more about the area where he dwells. Rating 7/10 – This game isn’t for everyone, but it’s not a bad game. The Last Guardian is a well put together experience, with a few setbacks regarding Trico’s response to command. While epic in size, this isn’t the next big adventure game; Players need to try this game to decide for themselves if it’s a game they will love or not. At the end of the day, Trico is a welcome member to the PlayStation family, and The Last Guardian an overall success.

Final Fantasy XV finally hits the shelves, being announced a decade ago and having to be delayed over and over again. Final Fantasy gives us a new story, new gameplay mechanics, and new characters. Does this game triumph or does it suffer the Duke Nukem effect? Let’s find out. Story: You play as prince Noctis as he is about to embark on a life-changing journey/adventure with his friend, Ignis (cook), Prompto (best friend), and Gladiolus (bodyguard). You begin by leaving your kingdom to go get married to Lady Luna Freya, to make an alliance between his kingdom and hers. Early on in his journey Prince Noctis and his friends come to discover that the imperial army has taken over his kingdom, his father has been killed, and his bride to be is missing. So now it is up to him and his loyal companions to take down the imperial army and reclaim their kingdom. Gameplay: Final Fantasy XV is a bit different than what some classic fans are used to, being familiar with the linear turn based RPG; that is not the case here. Final Fantasy XV is a game that combines both linear and open-world gaming; the first half of the game is open world with lots of side content, and the second half is completely linear. The combat is totally different and much more in depth than expected; this includes some timely countering, dodging and combining combos with your party. You can assign your party special attacks; along your adventure you can upgrade their abilities, and their natural abilities such as cooking, fishing, and photography. Another big part of this game is the traveling, you have a special car that takes you place to place which is mostly driven by Ignis, but when you choose to drive the controls are so stiff with the car you are better off fast traveling or just having Ignis drive the whole time. The bond between the four friends is quite remarkable and you see how it becomes stronger as the story progresses. When you’re not out in the field taking some monster down for some extra XP or driving to the next check point you are exploring dungeons, eating food, and collecting resources. Graphics: Final Fantasy XV does not disappoint when it comes to the graphics, improving from its predecessors and living up to the expectations of a next-gen game. Final Fantasy has always pushed the limits regarding its visuals, and XV does just that. Verdict: Final Fantasy XV delivers; for a game that did not have my interest, once I had it in my hands I could not put it down. With a fantastic story, unique characters, in depth combat, wonderful RPG elements, and a ton of weaponry to choose from, Final Fantasy XV is a game you do not want to skip out on this holiday season. Final Fantasy XV: 9/10 to rent or purchase Final Fantasy XV go to **** canada’s largest video game rental service

Ubisoft brings us the sequel to the highly anticipated, over hyped, yet underwhelming Watch Dogs. Ubisoft released Watch Dogs 2 on November 15th. Announced back in June a week before E3, Ubisoft showed many videos on what the team did to improve the gameplay and the game mechanics in an attempt to earn the public’s trust back when it came to the Watch Dogs brand. Does Watch Dogs 2 become the Microsoft of the tech world, or does it remain a start-up company never becoming big enough to get out of the garage? Story: Watch Dogs 2 takes place in San Francisco and its surrounding area. You play as Marcus Holloway a hacker originally from Oakland who resides in San Francisco. At the start of the game, you begin by going through a trial in order to join the Deadsec hacker group. Deadsec's goal is to become the biggest hacker group out there, by exposing the truth about big tech companies as they take the data you enter from your emails, to tracking you in your everyday life. Putting a stop to that will get you followers, but your big target is Blume a company run by a Steve Jobs wannabe "Dušan Nemec", who turns out to be very crooked with having all these companies in his pocket from politics to human trafficking. So its "Dušan Nemec" and Blume you want to take out and give the people their freedom back. Gameplay: Watch Dogs 2 is a third person sandbox game. You explore the wonderful and very different area of San Francisco. Players get to experiences how techy San Francisco is in some of the missions, from hacking a camera to exploding a gas tank to kill one of your enemies. You have more gadgets in your arsenal rather than just a phone this time around; a remote RC jumper and a drone are at your disposal. The drone and jumper will help you during infiltration missions when you don't want to be caught and go into combat. You can also sneak into places by taking out your enemies silently with a yo-yo, or go in guns’ blazing, which feels out of place in this game. I really feel Marcus should hack his way through everything. As you complete missions you gain followers, allowing for upgrades like vehicle hacking, combat skills, and RC and drone upgrades. This game is not just about the combat, it has some great puzzles to solve which at times can feel pressured because of a timer, but feels great when you accomplish them. Graphics: The graphics in this game are well mixed; the character models and cars look fantastic, as does the scenery and main building structures. But it's the NPC's and environments that look like they belong on the PS3 and Xbox 360. Verdict: Watch Dogs 2 is a game that fixes almost all of the problems from the previous installment. It is a fun open world game, with great dynamic characters, great writing, and much better gameplay mechanics; it is definitely worth the pickup. Watch Dogs 2: 8.5/10 Reviewed by ICE at Gamers of the Round Table. Good job Ubisoft To Rent or buy Watchdogs 2 go to **** Canada's number one rental service.

Activision & Infinity Ward are back with an all-new installment of the Call of Duty franchise, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. Does this year’s installment come out victorious or, get **** into a black hole? Story: You play as Nick Reyes, a commander of the U.N.S.A after an attack was launched on earth from General Kotch (John Snow from Game of Thrones) and the SDF, Reyes and his partner Salt (Salter) fight their way through their city of Geneva getting to their ships and boarding the Retribution: which is now their home base for the remainder of the campaign. So your objective in this campaign is to defeat General Kotch and stop the SDF forever. Gameplay: So this is your average first person shooter Call of Duty, with some new weapons and, gadgets and, dog fights this time which I love. New editions are more than welcomed this year with the side missions, these side missions are one of two things, infiltrating an enemy ship and planting charges to blow up the ship, or intense dogfights to bring down other larger aircraft carriers. The new weapons load out system is another really nice addition to this year’s call of duty, before each mission, you will go to the loadout dock and choose which guns you want to use during the current mission there will be recommendations but you can customize it any way you want to including the weapons on your ship before you roll out. While going through the course of this game and even playing the Multiplayer I couldn’t help but think that Call of Duty has become too much like Halo with the jet packs and the laser guns, I just wish they would go back to their roots of being a straight-up military shooter; when I play a call of duty game I do not want to be jumping around, floating and sliding all over the place. Verdict: The writing in this game is fantastic, the characters are memorable, it’s high in action, new additions to the gameplay and fantastic story telling but when I play Call of Duty games I want a military shooter, not a space shooter. Call of Duty Infinite Warfare: 7/10 Reviewed by ICE at Gamers of the Round Table

Warner Brothers brings out another Lego game but with a huge twist. Does it prevail or get stuck in a time loop? Let’s find out. Story: Warner Brothers brings us Lego Dimensions, a game that features iconic pop culture, movie, TV, and video game characters by putting them all into one game where there paths cross and the must work together. You start off with the starter pack of characters that include Batman, Gandalf (Lord of the Rings), Wyldstyle (Lego Movie), and Supergirl (bonus on the ps4). These characters join together to stop Lord Vortech from merging all of the universes for him to control. You must build the portal with actual Lego pieces and place the four characters on the on the holders and then putting the holders on the portal platform which makes the characters appear in the game. Gameplay: This is not your typical Lego game; with other Lego games you are stuck in one universe, with Lego Dimensions you start each level by jumping into a vortex taking you to a famous level inspired by movies, television or video games such as The Wizard of Oz, The Simpsons (Which blew my mind), Back to the Future and so much more. With every level, there seemed to be a pattern of solving puzzles with certain characters, a boss fight at the end of the level, but the game forces you to utilize the portal to solve puzzles and defeat bosses. The only thing that really bugged me about this game was the hire a hero aspect, where in order to get a collectible or to do a certain action you have to spend 50,000 Lego pieces to hire a hero for only a minute which is really unfortunate. Verdict: Lego Dimensions is a game I anticipated to grow tired of very quickly, but it was extremely enjoyable; the gameplay, dialogue, and humor that came with it especially in each universe like the Simpsons and Back to the Future made this a uniquely enjoyable game. The fun does not end there: Adventure Time, Ghost Busters, Mission Impossible and Scooby Doo are just some of the worlds that players can experience through Lego Dimensions. This game is not just for kids but for all ages, so that they can visit the worlds they grew up with and, it has me hooked. Lego Dimensions 9.5/10 A must buy. Reviewed by ICE at Gamers of the Round Table

Alex the Kidd, Gamers of the Round Table Square Enix brings Final Fantasy fans their favorite characters as they have never seen them before – as Chibi’s, in the whimsical World of Final Fantasy. Does this installment in the international franchise live up to the name, or does it fall flat as a childish attempt at a cash-grab? The Good The art direction for this title is inspired – taking from the franchises long past, characters from every Final Fantasy game make appearances throughout the world of Grymoire in Chibi form, small caricatures of their original character designs. Fans of the long running series will be happy to see many familiar faces, along with some new ones; this creates an inspired opportunity to reunite fans with their favorite FF characters, while introducing them to an entire roster of characters from past games they may never have experienced. The battle system has a learning curve, but the game makes it easy for players to pick it up and learn the ropes while providing witty dialogue that creates a connection between the protagonists and the player. This game does not take itself too seriously, both poking fun at the world itself, and breaking the fourth wall to point out the ridiculous nature of some of the situations. It’s this humour that makes the game as enjoyable as it is; players who can laugh along with the characters and enjoy lighthearted fun will be fans of this entry. The Bad The Chibi’s themselves may make this a difficult title for hard-core Final Fantasy fans to take seriously. While many of the characters from past installments retain their core personalities, there are many silly moments where the main protagonists make light of what could be otherwise tense situations. This is a very light-hearted game, and those fans who expect stoic or moody protagonists in their Final Fantasy game will most likely steer clear of this title. Rating 10/10 – World of Final Fantasy delivers a well thought out game, which is both nostalgic and refreshing for fans of the series. This is a game that players of all ages can enjoy; whether you are a long-time fan, or just dipping your toes into this series, the world of Grymoire awaits with all the wonders of Final Fantasy beckoning you. Will you answer the call for adventure?

Dice brings back Battlefield with an all new installment in the franchise, taking us all the way back to World War 1. World War 1 was the world that shook and changed the world, it was the said to be the wars to end all wars, does this installment live up to its potential or does it die in the trenches? let's find out. So let us start off with the campaign, in Battlefield 1's campaign you will play as six different soldiers, a British tank driver, an American pilot, an Italian brute soldier looking for his brother, a female soldier working alongside Lawrence of Arabia, legend of the Australian army and, an African American foot soldier fighting deep within the trenches of Europe. Across these journeys, on different continents of the world, you will experience different things like tank battles in a town square in France, dog fights over the fields of Germany, horseback fighting in the middle east. During the course of the campaign in just about every section, you will end up doing some stealth just so you do not get obliterated by every soldier in the area. The campaign is not where it is at in this game though while being very good it's multiplayer that makes you really appreciate the game. The multiplayer consist of an all new operations mode which is what I have played the most, in a nutshell, operations is rush mode but on a bigger scale. The multiplayer gives you that true sense of what it was like being in the war at the time the dirty warfare of the trenches and, being in no man's land trying to pick off your opponent. You feel a shot of adrenaline pump through your veins when running from an opponent shooting at you through the trenches and the muddy field or, watching as an enemy tank rolls right over you while you hide out in a hole in the ground. Battlefield 1 may have taken us back to a war that has not been done in many games to this scale, but it's a step in the right direction for Dice and EA. The campaign was short but sweet with very little issues and, the online is amazing and truly one of a kind experience that you won't find anywhere else. Battlefield 1: 9.5/10 Excellent job Dice and EA. Reviewed by ICE at Gamers of the Round Table

The world’s greatest detective is back on the PS4 and Xbox One in an HD collection; the collection consists of Arkham Asylum and, Arkham City. Does this series need an HD collection or should it have just with the last generation of consoles? let’s find out. Arkham Asylum (2009) and Arkham City (2011) come storming in on the PS4. In Arkham Asylum you are confined to one location filled with Gotham most notorious criminals, you have one target in the game though the Joker. After an incident at the mayor’s office in Gotham city, Batman captures the Joker without any fight, upon the arrival at Arkham immediately the Joker breaks free to un-foil a plan to poison Gotham’s water supply and to get to Dr. Young and the titan; a drug that DR. Young developed which is a stronger venom than what bane uses. So your job as the caped crusader is to find an antidote to the titan and stop the Joker, along with your journey you will have encounters with other “famous” Batman villains such as Scarecrow, Harley Quinn, Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, and Bane, but your main objective defeat the Joker. In Arkham City, you start playing as the irregular billionaire Bruce Wayne tied up in a room being beaten by DR. Hugo Stranges henchmen (Tyger). Leaving the room you realize you have become a prisoner in Arkham City, strange then talks about protocol 10 and to make matters worse in this case he knows you are Batman. You are in an open world this time in the Arkham franchise, during your time here you will have your main quests with side missions and content. In this installment of Batman Arkham franchise, you have your main story bringing down Hugo Strange and, stopping protocol 10 ,but there are stories on the side like the Joker dying with a severe illness and, Ra’s al Ghul and the league of shadows that you can complete as you progress through the main story. When it comes to gameplay Rocksteady revolutionized a combat style that we see many games do today the free flow combat style, where you can bounce from enemy to enemy unleashing devastating attacks. While you are not using hand to hand combat you are using stealth takedowns using your gadgets like the Batarang, explosive gel. When you are not in combat you are flying around using your grappling hook and collecting riddler trophies. Verdict: Batman return to Arkham has its appeal to people if you have not played them on the previous consoles, but after the Arkham Asylum you feel a little burned out and are in no rush to go right into Arkham City. These games are really fun and good to play but you get burned out on them after the first game Score: 7/10 Batman Return to Arkham.

Rise of the Tomb Raider Alex the Kidd, Gamers of the Round Table Lara Croft has returned to PlayStation with her 20 Year Celebration edition of Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix’s Rise of the Tomb Raider. The follow up to 2013’s Tomb Raider, fans have been eagerly awaiting the next installment of the rebooted franchise, and now after a year-long wait, PS4 owners can experience Lara’s next adventure; does Rise of the Tomb Raider live up to the twenty year legacy of this award winning franchise, or is it a failed expedition that could derail the progress its predecessor set? The Good Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration is packaged with concept art from the creators and fan art submitted in celebration of twenty years of Lara Croft. Along with this collection of art, the game comes with every add-on available during the first year of its release, and new content as well. This includes VR support for “Blood Ties”, new “Ultimate Survivor” difficulty mode, new outfit and gun inspired by Tomb Raider III, 5 classic Lara skins, Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch, Endurance Mode, Cold Darkness Awakened, 12 outfits, 7 weapons, and 35 Expedition cards. With all of the additional content offered, players can feel good about paying full price for a game that is technically a year old; in the end you actually save money compared to those who bought the Xbox 1 copy last year and then purchased all of the subsequent DLC afterwards. The story in this game is a proper continuation from where we last left off. Players see the aftermath of the previous adventure where a survivor was born, and the ripples it created in Lara’s life. The adventure progresses at a steady pace, and no plot-point is left unresolved. The emphasis on resource gathering is a welcome addition, forcing players to hunt, forage, and look for supplies to upgrade their weapons and gear. Players must also gather collectables to increase their knowledge of ancient languages in order to find valuable artifacts. This game keeps the player from having anything handed to them, forcing them to earn the valuables they seek. The Bad The inability to blind-fire from behind cover becomes a problem as the amount of combat Lara is subjected to increases; when enemies are both running to your position and firing from a distance, the battles can feel aggravating, especially for those playing on survivor or ultimate survivor mode. The brutality seems toned down compared to the last installment, and while many may enjoy the lack of graphic visuals, it was a major component of the rebooted franchise – this isn’t your old Tomb Raider game, and this isn’t Lara Croft as you’ve experienced her before. Lack of dual-wielding pistols; at the conclusion of Tomb Raider, Lara defeats the final boss by firing two pistols simultaneously as an homage to the classic weapons of choice that have populated the series since the first game. While this is about the beginnings of Lara Crofts journey, this installment didn’t even offer a nudge to the classic weapons. The end of the last game insinuated that we would see a development in Lara’s arsenal, but players are left with more of the same from the previous installment. Rating 10 – Rise of the Tomb Raider is a welcome addition to an already amazing franchise, not only continuing the journey set out from the 2013 reboot, but standing on its own as an excellent Tomb Raider game. This Lara Croft is a very human character, and while she isn’t the dual-wielding bad ass she was in previous years, it’s clear to see that she is well on her way. The 20 Year Celebration Edition for PS4 is the complete experience and then some, providing everything a gamer could want and more in a full-priced game. This game is the reason for owning a PS4.

Gears of War 4 It’s time for a review on a large game that everyone (err… most people) have had their eyes on – it’s time to get gruesome with the newest installment of the Gears series. Let’s find out if it’s worthy of that name or if it puts the series to shame. Story: now admittedly, I am brand new to the series so many aspects of this game or throwbacks are either brand new to me or go over my head. But I think I get the main idea of the story, many people are getting snatched away by creatures being called “The Swarm”. You play as Marcus Fenix’s son James, who is trying to rescue some of the crew. Later on you learn that these “Swarm” have some sort of connection with the old enemies called “The Locust”, however we don’t learn a whole lot in this game as it feels the developers are setting up for the story to really take place in a future installment. Gameplay: this game handles extremely well. It strongly urges the use of using cover as often as possible and the weapons while varied all feel incredibly satisfying to use. Whether killing an enemy by filling them with bullets or ripping them in half with a chainsaw, you’ll be right at home no matter the weapon you enjoy using. Conclusion: this game is really enjoyable. It was well worth the price and I am always eager to get in and try out the multiplayer modes in the game. The story mode while not being short didn’t feel like it dragged on too long, nor did I feel like it was ever a chore playing the game. That being said I personally didn’t personally enjoy the three Fabricator segments in the story which are essentially wave survival modes. Score: while this game does do a lot of things right, it is not without its flaws. The Fabricator sections feel like they breakup the story a bit too much and at times just feel forced on the player. As for the story, while being amazing, feels a bit like filler to prepare for a future game. I give this game a score of 7/10 (note: this score is purely personal opinion and you should try the game for yourself before passing judgement)

Hangar 13 brings us the next installment of the Mafia franchise with Mafia 3: does this third installment become the Don, or does it get buried with the fishes? Mafia 3 takes place in 1968 in the southern United States city of New Bordeaux, a re-creation of New Orleans. You play as Lincoln Clay, a bi-racial Vietnam veteran and orphan who never felt like he belonged anywhere. Returning from the war you fall back in with the only family you’ve ever known (the black mob), and find out that your family is in debt to the Italian mob and it has to be repaid. When you pull off a job with the Italians to repay the debt they betray you and leave you for dead. Clay sets out on a revenge mission to take down Sal Marcano, his family, and his empire. Mafia 3 is an open world third-person shooter that does some things well and others not so much. In Mafia 3 you will recruit three different capos: Cassandra, the leader of the Haitian gang, Vito Scaletta, an exiled member of the Italian Mafia from empire bay, and Burke, leader of the Irish mob who also lost his son because of the Marcanos. There are a total of ten districts to control and each district has a certain crime syndicate that you must take over; you can destroy their supplies, interrogate the informants, or kill the leaders and enforcers. By the 5th district it becomes a bit tedious as you do the same thing over and over again, and going the extra mile more than you need to just to get more money. Taking over rackets allows you to assign one of your capos to run the racket and will allow a bigger kickback to you. Once an entire district is taken over and the boss is killed, you then have a sit down with your capos and assign one of them to the district which will unlock a new perk for you. The driving in this game feels smooth, with the muscle cars pulling tight corners with a nice drift. Unfortunately, the cars in the game are not licensed. Mafia 3 is good, but does not keep you interested for more than 20 hours. The soundtrack is fantastic, filled with classic rock and roll, jazz and country from the 50's and 60's. The unfortunate thing about the game is that it becomes very repetitive with each district, the collectibles are a bit tedious, and the world that was so alive during the time of the 60's seems a bit dull. However, you can’t help but continue to see how the story unfolds as you attempt to collect as much money as possible. Pros: story, time period, character development, writing, soundtrack Cons: glitches, mechanics, repetitive, lifeless environment and collectibles. Mafia 3: 8/10 Reviewed by ICE at Gamers of the Round Table

FIFA is back with another year for more football (soccer), but this time it has been powered by the Frostbite engine. Does this make a difference to the game and does the all new journey mode hold its ground in the FIFA franchise? Let’s find out. FIFA has risen to the surface again, with an all-new look and new mode. This year's installment of the franchise has been designed with the Frostbite engine to allow for the story-driven journey mode. You play as Alex Hunter, a little kid playing pick-up games in a Sunday league in London, England. Time skips forward seven years, to when you are about to try out for one of the twenty premier league teams. Once you get a grade high enough to make the team you choose which team you want to be a part of. You start off as a substitute; before each game you do some training and depending on how you perform that can determine if you are going to be starting or sitting on the bench. As you play through a few games you get bumped down into another league. Doing well in the lower league will get you called back up to the premier league. Throughout the journey, the way you respond to people can have an effect on you: if you answer a question with a cocky attitude, your followers will go up but the relationship with your manager will go down, if you answer a question cool the manager relationship will go up but the followers will go down. The way you respond to your team mates can also affect your relationship with them off and on the field. Through the course of your journey, you will see your stats increase and sponsorship deals come in as you reach a certain amount of social media followers. All the modes from previous installments of FIFA are there, from season mode all the way to ultimate team. FIFA has done a lot of things right in this year's installment compared to last year’s, however, the game does still struggle with some mechanics. Passing is one of them; while I am on the pitch and I want to pass it to another player it will go to another teammate that I had no intention of passing it to. As well, during a penalty kick I could not switch my keeper to automatic control, which became very frustrating. FIFA 17 delivers exactly what I needed and wanted in a soccer game, a lot of changes for the good, an all-new story driven mode showing the ups and downs of a professional athlete, Ultimate team mode where you can build your all-star team of current players and legends from Reus to Beckham, and play through the divisions. If you are football fan then FIFA 17 is the definitely the title you want to pick up. FIFA 17: 8.5/10 Reviewed by ICE at Gamers of the Round Table.

Doom (2016) Review Alex the Kidd, Gamers of the Round Table Bethesda and ID’s visceral collaboration, Doom throws players into a fast-paced, metal-fueled first-person shooter. With monsters and mayhem in abundance, does Doom offer anything new to the over saturated FPS market, or are fans left with another generic shooter? The Good The fast paced action of Doom sets it apart from other games in the FPS genre. There is no time to take cover, and if you don’t move, you are guaranteed to die while enemies are around. There is a feeling of urgency and an element of unpredictability with the enemies that is absent from most games of the genre. The game encourages players to utilize its “gore kill” system by having enemies drop health pick-ups from being killed in this manner; this was a feature that could have felt tacked-on, but ultimately becomes a core combat element that can be necessary for those running low on health. The brutality of the weapons and the creativity behind their upgrade/attachments provide players with a level of strategy to handle demonic encounters; players must act quickly when fighting demons as the weapon wheel only slows the action, but does not stop it. Players are challenged with adjusting to any demonic encounter on the fly and this level of non-stop action makes for an enjoyable experience. The snapmap game mode deserves high praise not only for its entertainment value, but also its practical applications in teaching coding. Snapmap allows players to create their own playable maps and upload them for others to play themselves. The remarkable aspect behind this game mode is the detail, size, and environmental reactions a player can create within their own map; the level of detail and control that players can put into their own creation makes this game mode a how-to for coding. Were it not for the games Mature rating (17+), Doom would be a highly recommended teaching tool for those students interested in coding. The Bad While there is a story present within Doom’s campaign mode, it’s less than compelling; portal to hell has been opened, close it. While the story unfolds through collectable dossiers and natural progression, there is little depth or surprises here. It’s not terrible, but it’s not great either. The online multiplayer is more of the same, in that there is little difference between it and every other multiplayer FPS mode on the market. You won’t see anything here that you haven’t seen before. The major offender in Doom is repetition; there isn’t much more to this game other than move from one area to the next to clear out enemies. While players are encouraged to explore the surprisingly large maps, the repetitive nature of clearing out hives of demons begins to take its toll, and eventually the gameplay becomes stagnant. The level and creature designs are extremely detailed, but the gameplay never really evolves, despite having more difficult enemies thrown at you as the story progresses. Doom plays all of its cards in the first half; everything from that point on is more of the same. Rating 7.5 – Doom brings freshness to the FPS genre that has been absent for far too long. The old-style health and armor pick-ups create a difficulty many gamers either forgot existed, or had never experienced. Fans of the series will rejoice with the fast-paced blood-bath that is Doom. While the core game becomes repetitive, the inclusion of the snapmap is an innovative game mode that is ripe with potential, and the multiplayer mode at the very least serves its purpose, despite not bringing anything new to the table. Overall, Doom is a non-stop ride through hell and back, and many gamers will be pleased by the series return to form.

Project Cars is a game that puts you right in the driver’s seat through a very generic career mode. Slightly Mad Studios brings us Project Cars, a simulator racing game that is the farthest thing away from being fun. The main attraction is the career mode that turns out to be very bland in all aspects. You start off racing go-karts with a company you sign with at the beginning of your career, as you win races better offers will come from different companies in a new kind of racing. As you progress through the career mode you realize that there is no variety in this game whatsoever: you go into a race to qualify, compete in a sprint race and then the final race of that event, the person with the most points win the event. The only varieties within the game are the cars; the tracks do not change, and lack any setting change. I was hoping to be driving along some nice European mountains, through the inner cities of Japan, but that is not the – it is the same tracks over and over again. Project Cars is a game that is not worth the time or the headache, it is nothing but a very big bore. With the lack of modes except for the Career mode and lack of tracks Project Cars is not even worth renting. Project Cars: 3/10 Would not recommend. Reviewed by Ice at Gamers of The Round Table.

Attack on Titan is out in video game form, following the events of the first season of the critically hit anime and manga. Is this the game fans have been waiting for all these years or does it get eaten by a horde of titans? Let’s find out. Story Titans have invaded into Shiganshina District and are destroying wall Maria, affecting the main characters Eren, Mikasa, and Armin's lives forever. With their city destroyed and their parents killed, they decide to join the survey corps to kill and destroy the titans from ever invading again. After five years of training, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin – with the help of their squad - return to fill out their duties to fight the titans and protect the human race. Attack on Titan follows the first season of the show to a tee, with a different kind of art style but still manages to keep the feeling that it is an anime. While the story does follow the first season of the anime it strays away from it in the final chapter and goes into the manga, which could be an issue for those who have only watched the show. Gameplay Attack on Titan is a third person, action packed game with a diverse and sometimes complicated battle system. There are two modes in this game: maneuver mode and battle mode. When you approach a titan you hit your R1/R2 button to enter the battle mode and from there you use your right stick to pick which part of the body to attack; some parts are very important because they contain materials which will help you upgrade your equipment. The only way to kill a titan is by hitting them in the back of the neck and in order to do that you must enter battle mode, choose with your right stick where to hit, hit the square button or X button, and when you are close enough to the neck hit the triangle or O button to unleash a more powerful hit. The upgrade system in this game is quite wonderful, more diverse and complex than I ever expected it to be; in between missions you can go to the barracks wherever they may be at the time and upgrade your blades and maneuver gear. You must have the appropriate materials to get these upgrades; you acquire those by cutting off titans certain limbs. You must have enough funds and those are given to you depending on how well you do on the previous mission. Verdict Attack on Titan is five chapters long, but you will want to be done by the third chapter. It becomes very repetitive and sometimes overwhelming with the amount of enemies that are on the screen along with the tasks you have to complete. There are side missions to do while you are on the battlefield which can seem very tedious and repetitive because they are the same thing over and over again. This game makes you feel very rushed when you are trying to complete the main objective; some of them are so hard and you have side missions to do at the same time so the game can feel overwhelming. Taking on characters such as Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and Levi is great because they are so diverse with their skills and abilities, but after a while it becomes the same thing. Attack on Titan is certainly worth renting but, not worth sixty dollars. Attack on Titan 5/10 Reviewed by ICE at Gamers of the Round Table

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Review Alex the Kidd, Gamers of the Round Table Square Enix’s follow-up to their 2011 title Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Mankind Divided takes place two years after the events of its predecessor, and players take on the role of Adam Jensen once again in this cyber-punk RPG. With new augments, characters and story, does the latest Deus Ex title successfully develop its unique take on a dystopian future? or are players left with a lackluster sequel that can’t live up to its source material? The Good Deus Ex: Mankind Divided lets the player choose their control scheme. Whether you want to go with their default layout, Human Revolution’s layout or a generalized First-Person-Shooter control set-up, the player is offered a variety of control load outs to accommodate individual play styles. The familiar RPG elements make a return, more polished and with a new “overload” system that requires the player to use. “experimental” augments at the cost of damaging your systems or permanently locking out original choices. This brings a new level of unique customization to the franchise and creates consequences for players who choose to use the new abilities. Mankind Divided improves upon the idea that you can “play your way” throughout the game, whether you want to tackle a mission guns blazing, or you want to infiltrate and never be seen. In the previous installment, players found they were hindered for choosing to play the game with stealth when it came to boss fights; Mankind Divided creates situations where you can attempt to take down any enemy through any means, without making the player feel like they made the wrong choice. If you haven’t played Human Revolution since 2011, this game gives you the option to watch a compilation video to recap the previous game; narrated by Jensen, the twelve minute video covers all of the major plot point from Human Revolution, and is highly recommended if it has been almost five years since you played as Adam Jensen. Depending on your sound system, you may want to adjust your volume to put more emphasis on voice audio as the music score can drown out the narration (or enable subtitles before playing). The addition of the Deus Ex: Universe companion app allows players to access behind the scenes content created by the developers and shows their insight into how they came to develop the word and characters of Mankind Divided; the app is free to download and allows players to scan in-game collectibles to access the content through their mobile device. This comes as a welcomed addition for players who immerse themselves in the world of Deus Ex and allows them to experience the creative process behind the game. The Bad The Breach feature feels tacked on and out of place; the introduction to the game mode is immersive, yet the actual content feels forced and out of place. While the art direction for Breach can be praised, it comes off as an unnecessary online component. Players can compare their stats using leaderboards, but the game mode becomes quite repetitive, and is little more than a puzzle game. While you can earn praxis kits through Breach, it requires you to hold off from the main game for its benefits to having any weight. The biggest issue with Mankind Divided is its waypoint system – or lack thereof. Players must always refer to the map to find their objective, and there are several times throughout the game where mission objectives are not indicated on the map at all. Having to look online to find out where to go next takes away from the immersive gameplay; one mission requires the players to locate two individuals, but only shows the location of one without indicating where the other is. While exploring Prague is fun, wasting time looking for your objective is far from it. Rating 9.5/10 - Deus Ex: Mankind Divided brings players back into the role of Adam Jensen in full force; while a few minor navigational mechanics that could use some fine-tuning, the game provides an immersive experience that allows you to handle any situation the way you want. This game not only follows up its predecessor, it stands on its own as an excellent video game. This is the quintessential espionage RPG gamers deserve.

No Man’s Sky Review Gamers of the Round Table Have you ever looked up to the night sky and wondered what it would be like to travel through the vast unknown? Developer Hello Games attempts to put players in the role of a universal traveller in their hyped-up hit, No Man’s Sky. The question on everyone’s mind is whether or not No Man’s Sky delivers on the experience promised by its developers. While No Man’s Sky allows players to travel through a near limitless universe, some aspects of the game can be less than engaging. The Good It is important to remember that Hello Games has delivered on everything they said they would with regards to this game. The hype train created by the gaming community raised the expectations beyond anything the developers said about No Man’s Sky. From the beginning, Hello Games has been clear that while there are online features regarding the games universal atlas, this is a single-player game. There are limitless systems to explore in this expansive universe, and making your way throughout the game will require some serious resource management. Resources are stackable in your inventory, but treasures and upgrades are not, and each will take up an inventory space; you must decide what is more important to you, and in many cases the wrong decision can mean your life. Each star system has a space station with a market trader where you can unload your inventory if you want to use the fuel to fly from station to planet for every exploration. The good thing is that asteroids contain fuel for your ships pulse thrusters, along with other valuable resources; even if can find an abundance of fuel on a planet’s surface, look among the void to help you. This means that you’re never really stranded – your ship’s speed and the distance between your location and another planet/objective are calculated realistically, meaning even though you can see a planet in the distance, it could take you four hours or longer without using your pulse thrusters to reach your destination. This can be worrisome until you start blasting asteroids and realize they contain valuable fuel and resources. Not only can you discover new planet’s, animals, locations, and plant life, you can upload and change their name. The best part besides claiming everything you see in your name is that you get paid to upload the information. Scanning everything you can see on the planet’s surface can lead to quick cash that can help you upgrade your inventory and multi-tool. You will encounter new aliens and learn about their cultures, beliefs, and shape their attitudes towards you by discovering more about them; the more you learn about an alien race the better your standing becomes. No Man’s Sky milestones system sets goals for you regarding everything you do, whether it’s flying at warp speed, learning alien languages or just trekking on foot. From the very start of the game you are thrown into an adventure to collect resources to survive long enough to repair your ship. No game has offered the level of universal exploration that No Man’s Sky provides. The Bad No Man’s Sky can become repetitive; exploring new planets, discovering alien languages, and gathering resources eventually feel mundane and more task-like than exciting. While new planets can have different eco-systems and resources, the urge to explore them as much as the first few doesn’t last. Landing on every planet you see to claim/re-name them can feel like a chore after a while. It’s important to get out and explore new systems to see what else is out there to feel like the game is progressing. Some milestones do not progress as well as others; most units accrued milestone category doesn’t count the overall cumulative amount of units you trade/earn. Instead, the milestone increases regarding your current unit amount. This can feel like an unrealistic goal to reach as purchasing inventory upgrades and new multi-tools causes the next upgrade to cost more – the more you upgrade, the more it costs, making it difficult to progress through the game and hold the amount of money that allows for the milestone to increase. Additionally, some glitches can be encountered while playing; the extreme weather milestone no longer counting solar rotations while you’re on the planet can be discouraging to players trying to collect all milestones and trophies. Rating 9/10 – Recognizing that this is the game that was promised, not the one hyped up beyond expectation, No Man’s Sky does everything it set out to do, even if you have to figure that out on your own. With a few issues that can largely be fixed with an update, this is a game you have to play to experience; watching live-streams, or your friends playing it only gives you a partial experience, like looking at a friend’s photographs from a vacation they took. You can see the fun had, but you didn’t experience it for yourself.

Lego is back with an all-new installment of the Star Wars franchise, creating Lego Star Wars the Force Awakens. Does this particular installment conquer with the resistance or does it get beaten by the first order let's find out? Going into this game, I had no idea what to expect because I had never really played a Lego Star Wars game before. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised in how much fun I was having. The game began with me taking on the role of Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca and Luke Skywalker in the battle of Endor. From there you progress through the story of the seventh installment of the Star Wars franchise. In the Force Awakens, you will play through Ten, epic chapters of non-stop action, puzzle solving, platforming fun. All the way from the Assault on Jakku to the Epilogue of Lukes island. Playing as characters from the franchise we all know and love and some new ones who we have grown to love. Now the gameplay in this game is something that threw me off course because of Lego games I have seen before. It is an action adventure/ third person cover shooter, Which is great because we see all these genres of games coming together in this one game. When I started to be able to fly in the millennium falcon and dog fighting I lost my mind in excitement. Going around shooting, hitting enemies of the first order and watching them fall apart into pieces is very satisfying. Now as far as puzzles go the majority of them are quite easy but as I progressed through the story of the game I found them to become more challenging there were two or three puzzles that took me about fifteen minutes to figure out. While you are doing these puzzles you have to switch between characters a lot because certain characters that have certain specialties; which is why this game is more fun if you have someone to co-op this game with. Lego Star Wars is a game that is fun and exhilarating with over 100 collectibles it gives you all the more reason to go back and play it all over again to get more of the collectibles that you missed on your first playthrough because you needed a certain character for. With great gameplay mechanics and great dialogue and some comedy that even an adult will have a great appreciation for. Lego Star Wars the Force Awakens is definitely worth the pickup. Lego Star Wars the Force Awakens gets a 7.5 out of 10 Reviewed by Gamers of the Round Table.