B.J. Blazkowicz is back to kill more Nazis in Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. The question is, should you help him out by picking up a copy or just stay out of the fight.

Read our review to find out

The Wolfenstein series has long been one of my personal favorites and it dates back to 1981 with the Apple II and then in 1983 for the Commodore 64 PC (not to be confused with the Nintendo 64 console which came much later). The first two entries were old school, top down shooter games with barebones graphics and were comparable to other games of that era. Then in 1992 I received from a friend a 3.5″ floppy disc with ID Software in big bold letters and the title Wolfenstein 3D.

The classic game is playable once you reach the submarine

After copying it over to my generic 80386 PC with a whopping 2MB RAM and a 20MHZ processor, I was running through doors and blasting Nazis from a first person perspective for the very first time. 4 hours later someone was peeling me off of the keyboard because it was 2AM and I had to go to work at 7. Health pickups and secret doors were all I could think of at at work and I couldn’t wait to get home that evening to play some more. I witnessed the birth of a new genre of video games and didn’t even realize it at the time. Fast forward to last week when I first fired up my review copy of MachineGame’s Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and I couldn’t wait to jump in and start blasting Nazis yet again.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus picks up where Wolfenstein: The New Order left off and follows our hero William “B.J.” Blazkowicz (known to the Nazis as Terror Billy) as he takes on the Third Reich and their Nazi army. The game opens with BJ being rescued from the Nazis and barely surviving the operations needed. He wakes from a 5 month coma weak and damaged, and finds that the captured U Boat his allies are using is under attack by Frau Engel, a sadistic Nazi commander who BJ had previously disfigured and killed her lover. As you work your way through the level, you are eventually given a choice between two people, only being able to save one of them. This choice determines which story arch you choose and adds some replayabilty to a game that already has plenty to do.

In classic Wolfenstein style, the difficulty levels range from ‘Can I Play, Daddy’ all the way up to ‘I am Death Incarnate’. once you’ve played through the game on any of those difficulties, ‘Mein Laben’ is unlocked and that is an insanely difficult mode. You get one life to complete the entire game, from start to finish, with no manual saves, no checkpoints, and you need to do it in one sitting. If you die, you have to go back to the very beginning of the game and start over. The campaign took me around 11 hours to play through on the ‘Bring em on’ difficulty so if you are looking for a Platinum trophy, you may want to look elsewhere or prepare for a long and arduous gaming session.

The story for the game is well written and goes beyond just the conquering of the US. We are shown BJ’s life as a kid and how his racist father was a real asshole, not only to him but also his mother. We are shown how his early years made him the man he is today and how his father forged him into the man the Nazis call Terror Billy. It was a depth that had been missing in previous entries in the series, and with BJ’s love interest pregnant with twins in this entry, it gives you an understanding of what BJ wants to avoid if he survives long enough to raise his own kids. The game touches on some seriously messed up social aspects that are still alive in this country today, and one has to wonder if some of what happens in the story really could have happened in a 1950’s America.

The many weapons in the game are unlocked by picking them up from dead bodies or found in gun racks across the levels. The weapons are upgradeable with weapon kits that are found lying around and applied giving them better scopes, bigger magazines, silencers, or more damage, to name a few of the available upgrades. My personal favorite is the rotating automatic shotgun that can do some serious damage in a hurry when faced with an incoming onslaught of filthy Nazis. There are also heavy weapons that can be either mounted or carried that are pretty fun to use and lethal as Hell. For stealthier players, you have a cool little battle hatchet that works great for those silent kills when sneaking up on a bad guy, and if you have a few extra, you can throw them and they are just as lethal.

The graphics for the game are top notch and fit this gen of consoles perfectly. The game uses ID Software’s ID Tech 6 gaming engine and allows for fast paced, blood flying action with quite a few Nazis on the screen at once. Character models are true to life as I was able to recognize the actor Christopher Heyerdahl as on of BJ’s allies preacher Horton Boone from his Hell on Wheels days. Level design and enemy design were also impressive, as the range of Nazis needing killed gave the game enough variety to keep the killing fresh. Also, beware of swamps and sewers as not all enemies are human.

Developer MachineGames’ Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus does a great job of furthering the franchise and continuing on with the alternate reality that was created previously. Great graphics and a great story, combined with some seriously fun Nazi killing, makes for yet another fun to play Wolfenstein game. BJ has come a long ways from 1981, but he hasn’t aged a day and is as effective as ever.

9

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus review code provided by publisher. For more information on scoring, please read What our review scores really mean.

Activision and Sledgehammer Games are taking us back to where it all began. Call of Duty: WW2 is out now and has already posted over $500 Million in sales, but the question is, should you add to their coffers and make the trip back to WWII.

Read our review to find out

The Call of Duty franchise started back in 2003 and made a name for itself both on PCs and consoles. The story telling was OK, but it was the action, both single player and multiplayer, that was its strong point. The franchise took several different routes with several publishers, with Treyarch taking on the Black Ops series and Infinity Ward (the original Call of Duty developer) and Sledgehammer Games taking on the other Call of Duty games. With Call of Duty: World at War, zombie mode was introduced and has almost become a franchise in itself. The franchise that started out in WWII has made it into the future with Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare making it all the way into space based warfare. With its latest installment, the franchise returns to the war that started it all, and in turn tries to take us back with it.

The Call of Duty franchise has always tried to have a decent storyline and the original title did a decent job of that, but its main focus has always seemed to be multiplayer and zombies with only limited resources and time spent on the campaign modes. Historically, like dropping into Normandy as a member of the 101st Airborne or running though the battlefield of Stalingrad as a Russian soldier in search of a weapon, the franchise has tried to tell stories from multiple view points in regards to actual battles and places. Call of Duty: WWII attempts to do this as well but falls short with several missed opportunities.

The story in Call of Duty: WWII follows a young Texas soldier, Private Red Daniels, who is assigned to a hard as nails sergeant, played by Josh Duhamel, and nice guy lieutenant. Your squad mates are introduced in rolling cut scenes and you learn a little about each guy, but not enough to really connect with them or empathize with them. Eventually you are in an open top transport boat and preparing to assault Omaha Beach. As far as the game tells you, it’s all Americans making this assault but anyone who knows history knows that isn’t so. Not that the game gets this wrong, it’s just that the game doesn’t mention who else is taking part in this deadly invasion.

When it comes to playing a Call of Duty campaign, I see myself as a hardcore veteran and always jump in playing on that difficulty. Through the very first level of this campaign, it didn’t take me long to realize that the health system would require me to take a very cautious approach to taking down the enemy. Your health is not regenerated but requires health packs to refill it. Your squad mates each have a sub-mission and that is to provide you with different items. One mate can give you health packs, one can give you smoke markers for mortar rounds, another can give you ammo, and another can give you grenades, once their meters are full. Your hard as nails sergeant can scout out an area and highlight any enemies for you once his meter is full. To fill a meter, you just need to kill German Soldiers, and then to interact with a mate you just have to get close to them and press up on the D-Pad (PS4). No need to worry about any of your mates dying in battle because apparently they can’t die, even when taking direct mortar rounds or eating a grenade, as long as you didn’t throw it.

The campaign follows the war from the beaches of Normandy, to liberating Paris and crossing the Rhine, but it’s almost always from Red’s point of view. There are several times that the developer could have branched out and gave us more insight into other characters but they failed to do so. At one point, you play as a young woman from the French resistance and have to infiltrate a German stronghold. There’s no real connection to this character but how hard would it have been for the developer to give us some decent backstory other than a few lines of dialogue? Had we seen just a small amount of her struggles prior to our arrival, it would have went a long ways to making that connection. In another instance, we are piloting a fighter plane with some guy that I’m not even sure what his name was. Again, just a little backstory would have went a long ways in connecting us not just to this character, but to his view of the war as well. In another instance you find yourself as a tank driver trying to rescue Red and his squad when they are pinned down. Fun sequence and the tank is fun to operate, but there’s no connect with the guy driving it. All we know is his name and really, it’s hard to care what happens to him once you are no longer in control of him.

None of the story issues should take away from the fact that the game is really fun to play. Driving a tank, flying a plane, or shooting them down with an AA gun adds to the standard FPS gun play. Weapon variety is as you would expect from a WWII shooter, with semi-auto and full auto rifles galore and the occasional sniper rifle for those situations where cover and support is the key.There is no loadout choice for the campaign so I started each level with my standard issue rifle and .45 hand gun. Germans were dropping grease guns and other weapons left and right, so it wasn’t a big issue, but I would have rather had the choice of a load out instead of that rifle and hand gun. Maybe a Barret and a decent sniper.

My only complaint with the gameplay is the single-mindedness of the enemies. You will be in the middle of a firefight, maybe with a couple of your guys standing there with you, shooting Germans left and right, and the bad guys will charge and run right past your mates and zero in on you. Your mates might even get a few shots in on these guys, but they’ll keep coming until you end them. This isn’t as noticeable on the easier difficulties, but playing on Veteran will have you wondering if your guys are shooting blanks at times. The Germans would drop pretty quick when I shot them in the face, so I had to wonder what my mates were using for bullets.

As with past Call of Duty games, there are plenty of collectibles to find and even a few new bells and whistles. Heroic Moments will have you either dragging a wounded soldier off of the battlefield or assisting a soldier who is in a death lock with a German Soldier. Each level has several of these and dragging someone off of a battlefield while bullets are zipping past you can make for some tense moments, especially when it only takes a few bullets to kill you on Veteran. You’ll hear the soldiers crying out for help when one of these moments arise, and not helping them would just be wrong.

Once you’ve finished the campaign, Nazi Zombies mode is ready and waiting for you. This is the tried and true, 4 player co-op mode that will keep you entertained for hours of Zombie killing fun. The zombies have been created with a more nightmarish look this time around, and wave after wave of them will try their best to eat you and/or tear you limb from limb. You can play locally, split-screen with two players or jump online and play with three online players or split-screen plus two online players. You could also play solo, but really, who would want too? The game screams co-op since you can revive each other if the zombies take you down.

The multiplayer modes are pretty standard for a Call of Duty game, and add many hours to what should be about a 10-12 hour campaign mode. The graphics for the game are exceptional, with character models that look lifelike, and human damage that may give you nightmares. Heads are literally blown off completely, or, even worse, partially, revealing body parts that people should never be able to see.

Sledgehammer Games’ Call of Duty: WWII is a fun and entertaining return to the roots of the franchise, but could have been so much more. The story telling could have gone much deeper and could have connected us to these characters in a way that allowed us to care if they made it home or even cared that their home is now liberated and Nazi free. The story it did tell, it told well, but left us wanting to know more about some of those secondary characters that we came across.

All in all, heading back to the roots of the franchise is well worth your time and money.

8

Call of Duty WWII review copy provided by publisher. For more information on scoring, please read What our review scores really mean.

The long lived Need for Speed franchise has added another game to its long list of titles, but is Need for Speed Payback worthy of your time and money?

Read on to find out

The Need for Speed franchise has been around a long time and dates back to 1994. It’s long been known as one of the best arcade racers around, with the Need for Speed Shift series even venturing into the simulation arena. Need for Speed Payback aims for the arcade style of racing, and nails it pretty darn well, just don’t expect much of a story to entertain you or to connect you to the multiple racing characters you’ll encounter and/or control.

Need for Speed Payback is set in a fictional city that looks a lot like Vegas, complete with casinos, fountains, and a villainous organization fittingly called “The House”. You control a three member team of drivers, with each driver having a specific set of skills. The main character is Tyler, who can race like the wind on asphalt, Jess, who can outrun anyone on her tail, and Mac, who can drift his way through the streets or go cross country in any off-road beast you can build. You’ll automatically switch between characters whenever you switch between the vehicles only they can operate, not that you’ll really care. There’s no real character development to connect you to any one of them, and their driving skills are fully developed already, so they are just along for the ride.

The storyline follows these three folks as they try to track down a pretty sweet Koenigsegg super car that someone stole. You’ll work towards figuring out where it went by taking down racing crews across the huge map of the open world once you get through the 45 minutes or so of the opening sequence. Each crew has a multi-race questline that culminates with you taking on the boss of the crew. Each crew has its own backstory, but nothing that adds to the story. The crews each have their own style of driving so only one of the three characters will take on any given crew.

The game uses licensed cars so you’ll find some recognizable car brands in the it like Chevy, Nissan, and Ford. There are Mustangs, Camaros, GT-Rs and even an F150 Raptor, with each of these being able to be made into the type of vehicle of your choice, depending on the dealership you visit. There are also junk cars, called derelicts, to be found lying around the open world. Once you find the main body, you’ll need to find the missing parts to assemble it. These are the easiest to get built up to max power so finding them will help you in the long run.

The vehicles in the game can be upgraded and visually customized with a bunch of different parts. Some areas of a vehicle may require certain tasks to be completed in the open world to unlock the customizations, but most tasks are pretty simple to complete. As for upgrades, a trading card type of system is employed with numbered rankings where as the higher the number, the more power it will give your car. Each speed card earned is specific to the vehicle you earned it with and can’t be shared with other cars and keep in mind that not all cars can reach the maximum power level of 399. We didn’t realize this until we were driving our 350z around and couldn’t get any new speed cards higher than a level 12.

Max speed cards go all the way up to 18 so we figured something was up. Pay attention to the  label directly under the make and model of the vehicle and you’ll see a line showing you what the max power can be. In the end, we just built a derelict car in each of the racing categories and that way we knew each vehicle could hit 399. Drifting in an old Chevy Bel Air or running offroad in an old school VW Bug can be a lot of fun anyway. There’s also an old Skyline that makes for a great racer and a pick-up truck so these derelicts are pretty diverse and make for some sweet rides. Be prepared to do some grinding to get them maxed out, though as those speed cards climb up the ladder slowly.

As you earn XP in-game, and you’ll earn it for doing just about everything from driving the wrong way to close calls, you slowly raise your Racer rank. With each new rank you’ll be awarded a basic shipment that gives you more XP, in-game cash, vanity parts, and tokens for the speed card one-arm-bandit found in the tun-up shops around the city. You can also purchase Premium Shipments with real money if you want to speed up the process of upgrading and reaching a higher racing rank, but we found that to be unnecessary if you have the time to actually play the game.

Developer Ghost Games isn’t new to the Need for Speed franchise, and the actual driving reflects that. This is a true arcade racer and is in no way a simulation. Drifting is pretty simple, and when coupled with a blast of NoS can be pretty impressive and rack up drift points in a hurry. The graphics for the game are top notch, with well detailed cars and locations. The open world map is pretty big, with things like speed traps, drift zones, jumps, speed zones, and billboards to smash spread out to keep you busy for a while.

The only thing missing in the open world is the law, which is a missed opportunity. You would think that hitting a speedtrap at 200+ MPH should trigger some sort of police chase, but it seems that the police force had some cutbacks as none can be found unless you are in an event that calls for them. This isn’t just an open world game, but also a lawless open world game, which really takes away from the Need for Speed series. Give me some open world cops to out run, damnit. Daddy needs a high speed car chase at random times.

Need for Speed Payback could’ve been a Fast and Furious game of epic proportions, but instead comes across as an OK Need for Speed game that left us underwhelmed. It’s still a fun game with plenty to do, and what it does it does well, but it could have been so much more.

7

Need for Speed Payback review code provided by publisher. For more information on scoring, please read: What our review scores really mean.

The PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games are upon us and what better way to try out some of the events than in the newest DLC for Steep, Ubisoft’s open world snow filled sandbox game?

Is it worth your time and hard earned cash, or should you leave the snow boots in the closet?

Read on to find out

Steep was first released in December of 2016 and has since seen a couple of expansions, adding a jetpack to a wing suit, sledding, and more to the already fun filled aspects of winter sports like skiing, snowboarding, and para-gliding. The latest expansion, Steep – Winter Games, now adds mountains from Japan and Korea to the mix and gets you set for the Olympics in PyeongChang, Korea.

There was already a bunch of stuff to do in the game, but now you can take off on the road to the Olympics by qualifying in Japan and then taking your skills to Korea to go for the Gold in one of many categories. You can fly through the sky in a Big Air event or speed down a course in the Super G event, or you can channel your inner Shaun White and hit the half pipe on a snowboard. These are just 3 of the 9 different disciplines to test your skills at.

Along your journey, you’ll be able to watch video from past and future Olympians and Olympic coaches as they tell you how they have reached their point in their life, and also give you some tips to help you out along the way. These are real folks and not just made up video game characters. It gives the game a nice touch of authenticity and adds nicely to the overall experience.

Steep was already a gorgeous game with plenty to do and one of our favorites to date. It’s awesome that Ubisoft took the extra time to add in an Olympic experience that wasn’t just a shallow knock-off, but an in-depth look at how some of the real world athletes and coaches achieved their status, and real world events to test the skills of any snow sports enthusiast. If you want to shred the slopes and earn some gold, this expansion is ready and waiting for you.

Good luck to all of the real world Olympians on the slopes and on the ice at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games.

9

Steep – Road to the Olympics review code provided by publisher and reviewed on a PS4 Pro. For more information on scoring, please read: What our review scores really mean.

The post Steep – Road to the Olympics Review: On the Slopes Going for Gold appeared first on Terminal Gamer - Gaming is our Passion | PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, WiiU.

The Station has officially launched and it is ready for you to travel to it to find out what went wrong. The question is, should you risk your life (or money at least) on the adventure?

Read on to find out.

In the distant future the Espial Space Station, the most advanced spacecraft to explore beyond our atmosphere, monitors the alien planet of Psy-Prime. A small research crew of our best and brightest study the locals and evaluate the prospect of cohabitation. Soon after learning the intelligent natives are embroiled in perpetual savage war, Espial’s cloaking and communication arrays suddenly go offline and never return. It is up to you to travel there and find out what happened.

The game opens up as you have finished your journey to the distant space station and are on the inside of it. Keep in mind that this isn’t an action title, but an exploration title and you’ll want to look around at everything, being sure not to miss any side rooms or nooks that may hold clues to what happened here. Picking up items and examining them is one of the keys to figuring out not only what happened, but also figuring out some of the puzzles as well.

This isn’t a long game, as we finished it in around 3 hours, but it was 3 hours we enjoyed. The puzzles weren’t childishly easy, but didn’t require a genius intellect either. They had a nice balance to them that required some thought and some exploration. Not all of the puzzles were necessary to finishing the story, but help to give a bigger picture of the events that unfolded, so you’ll want to figure all of them out. there will probably be an online guide you could use to blow through the game, but where’s the fun in that? Puzzles range from restoring the power to the station to opening lockers and doors with a lock pattern pad similar to what you see on a smart phone. Solutions can be found on the station itself, you’ll just have to figure out where.

The graphics for the game are very pretty and eye pleasing, and the station itself is very detailed. Opening the main windows on the bridge gives a breath taking view of space and the nearby planet. The layout of the station is easy to follow and makes getting around it fairly easy. No maze or dungeon crawling here, and that’s a good thing. It’s more of an open world space station for you to explore than a linear path for you to take, and that is also a good thing.

The story is told through audio files and interactive ‘memory’ spots you’ll come across. there are also notes to be picked up and read, as well as computer terminals that allow you to read emails, notes, and instant messenger accounts and interactions between the previous inhabitants. All of which will give you a vague idea that something bad happened here. Your main key here is to read everything, and interact with with everything possible.

The Station retails for $14.99 / £14.99 and the game is worth its price tag for those that love a laid back adventure.

8

The Station review code provided by publisher and reviewed on a PS4 Pro. For more information on scoring, please read: What our review scores really mean.

The post The Station Review – Mysteries in Space appeared first on Terminal Gamer - Gaming is our Passion | PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, WiiU.

We hit the many tracks in locations around the world in developer Milestone’s offroad racing game Gravel. Should you join in on the dirty fun, or is this title just stuck in the mud?

Read our review to find out.

Developer Milestone is well known for racing games and has a résumé that includes games from a wide variety of racing genres including the WRC: FIA World Rally Championships, Monster Energy Supercross, MOTO GP, and others. These games can vary between arcade style racers to full on simulators that can test your mettle and your skills. Gravel falls into the arcade offroad category, but that doesn’t mean the game is short on simulator features. More on that later.

Gravel is best played by jumping into the story mode first. This will unlock more vehicles and more locations, and their many variations of tracks, as you race through them. The story follows you, the driver in a reality type TV series, as you take on all comers in four different offroad disciplines:  Stadium Circuit, Wild Rush, Speed Cross, and Cross-Country. Your path consists of Gravel Channel TV Episodes that have different styles of racing in different regions which will earn you stars, which are needed to unlock more episodes, and eventually unlock the five different bosses.

Episodes consist of a set of races that vary from episode to episode, and include several different types of racing utilizing the different classes of vehicles. There are stadium and Speed Cross events which are lap counter races. There are checkpoint races that will have you going across country, racing through checkpoints and trying to get ahead and stay ahead of other drivers. There are time attack events where you’ll race against the clock and try to post the fastest time. There’s also an elimination race where a clock will run down to zero and who ever is in last place is eliminated, after which time the clock resets and starts running down again until either you are eliminated or you are the last racer left.

Lastly, there are my least favorite types of races, the Mash Up. The Mash Up combines the cross country and check point style of racing with a time attack mode but also includes a row of small squares that continuously pop up in front of you. In this row there will be one small square that will have an arrow and other squares that have an X. Hit the arrow and you’ll continue on at full speed. Hit the X and you come to an almost complete stop, slowing you down immensely. You won’t know which square has the arrow until crashing through the previous row, and it works like a slot machine, randomly selecting arrows and Xs. It’s a pain in the ass type of race that requires quick thinking and quick reflexes when you are piloting a 600HP beast of a Hummer or F150, hurtling along at over 120MPH. It’s not that the type of race isn’t fun, it can just be frustrating.

As you complete these races, you’ll be unlocking the tracks for free play, along with unlocking new vehicles and liveries (paint jobs). the vehicles are real world machines, brought to you by manufacturers like Ford, Volkswagen, Porsche, and Hyundai, to name just a few. The vehicles are nicely detailed, with an interior view that makes us wish for a true VR option, and a showroom option for a close up look at the exterior of each vehicle. The different liveries are many and add to the overall quality of the game, giving you many options to unlock and use.

The many different vehicles are varied and fun to drive, each with its own traits and personality. While the F150 might be in the same class as the Hummer, each handle differently and have their own pros and cons. Same goes for the different Porsches and the Hyundai Veloster. All can be in the same class, but each one is better suited for different types of races. Trial and error is the best way to figure out which vehicle works best where, and the real fun is in the finding out. One neat feature, that kind of feels like cheating, is a nifty rewind feature for those times when you may have taken a corner too fast and wiped out or just ran off the track. Hitting the bumper on the controller allows you to back up for 20 seconds or so and maybe take that corner a little slower.

Once you have raced through a track in the story mode, that track becomes available to you in the Free Race mode. There are 16 different locations, with several locations having multiple track layouts, so the variety of tracks should keep you busy for some time to come. As you race you’ll also be earning XP along the way and that contributes to your overall Level. As you level up you’ll unlock more and more vehicles, with unlocks going all the way up to Level 99. Be prepared for a lot of offroad time if you are a completionist.

As we said before, this is an arcade racer but it can be treated more like a sim if you really wanted to amp up the difficulty. You can have the game hold your hand a little bit (or a lot)just by adjusting the options . You can turn traction control on or off, automatic braking on or off, you can have the game assist you with the brakes if you want and you can even turn damage on or off. Once at the track, you can also adjust the vehicle itself by adjusting your suspension, transmission, differential, braking, and alignment, with save slots for your custom set-ups. While the game never quite hits the full sim level, it does go way beyond just being an arcade racer.

Developer Milestone has a pretty good track record when it comes to racing games and Gravel can be added to their long list of quality racers. Not only is it pretty to look at, it’s fun as hell to drive as well.

8

Gravel review code provided by publisher and reviewed on a PS4 Pro. For more information on scoring, please read: What our review scores really mean.

The post Gravel Review – Offroad Arcade Master appeared first on Terminal Gamer - Gaming is our Passion | PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, WiiU.

The Metal Gear series has unleashed its latest iteration upon the world, and without Hideo Kojima’s help this time. Should you rush out and grab a copy, or is it best left to the undead?

Read our review to find out

The Metal Gear series has been around a long time, first appearing all the way back in 1987. Up until recently, the series was helmed by Hideo Kojima, but due to creative differences between himself and publisher Konami, Metal Gear Survive was created by Konami’s in-house team Konami Digital Entertainment, with no input from Kojima-san at all. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it did result in a game that doesn’t quite feel like a true Metal Gear game.

Metal Gear Survive takes place in the time period between Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, both of which being created by developer Kojima Productions, really makes this game feel like an alternate timeline of sorts and probably would have been received better as an all-new, stand alone IP. The game opens as Mother Base is under attack, and you can only watch Snake attempt to repel the attackers. The game then fast forwards to when the base has been severely damaged by that attack and dead bodies are floating everywhere. Teams of living soldiers are gathering their remains from boats and placing them in steel caskets, preparing them for burial at sea. At this point we are prompted to create our character.

After character creation, the scene opens and we are shown an individual searching through the caskets before they are closed, comparing each fallen soldier to a photograph. Eventually he finds our character’s remains and we find out that we had helped defend the Mother Base and were almost sucked up into a wormhole, losing an arm in the process, and finally losing our life. He then spirits our remains away to a top secret facility where we wake up 6 months later, fully restored, including the lost arm.

We find out that the person that brought us here was named Goodluck, and that we are infected with some sort of strange parasitic organism that brought us back to life and helped us regrow our missing arm. Due to our infection, Goodluck has recruited us to enter into a wormhole and travel to another dimension called the Dite, where we are to somehow create a cure for this infection. We meet up with an XOF Soldier named Reeve and create a shaky alliance, not really sure if we can fully trust the guy. We then proceed to a base camp that will be the center of all of the gameplay from there on.

Once in the Dite, we come across our first zombie like creatures, called wanderers, and have to take them out with limited weaponry and resources. It’s a tough way to meet them, but these first creatures aren’t too hard to take out using stuff lying around like shovels or pipes. Still, the game wastes no time letting you know that you are on your own as far as weaponry, and learning how to make more becomes paramount to your survival. Once you reach your base camp, you’ll be able to store items for crafting, so be sure to look around and pick up as much stuff as you can carry. The RPG elements for the game very deep.

Once at the base camp, you are greeted by an AI named Virgil AT-9. He fills you in on as much as he can remember, but most of his memory has been wiped, so he isn’t too much help. Early missions will have you traveling out into the open world of the Dite in search of memory boards so that Virgil can refresh his memory. You’ll have to keep an eye on both your thirst and your hunger, because if either of them hit zero percent, you will die. There is a supply of water and some sheep just outside of your camp, but you’ll need to hunt the sheep with a spear and find some empty bottles for the water. The water has to be boiled or you will get sick, resulting in a shortness of stamina and possibly leading to death, but you can’t boil the water until you’ve upgraded your camp fire, which requires a certain amount of progression through the game, so you’ll have to be sure to try to heal yourself after drinking bad water.

Early on the game is no walk in the park, and requires patience and grinding, as killing the wanderers will net you Kuban energy (pronounced koo-ban) which is required, along with gathered resources, to create better weaponry and better defenses. The first thing I found helpful was creating a small section of chain link fence, placing it in front of me, and having the wanderers walk up to it, trying to get to you. You can then stab them with a spear through the fence, and then harvest their Kuban energy once they are all dead. The fence lasts for a limited time, depending on how many of the wanderers are up against it, and if there’s too many, it can fall on top of you. If you die, you’ll have a limited number of revive pills or you can respawn back at base camp, dropping any and all resources you may have picked up after your leaving camp. A small box will be left where you died, for a limited time, so you can get those resources back if you want.

There’s also a fairly deep skill tree for your progression, that can increase stamina, health, and so on. You’ll earn skill points as you gather memory boards and unlock transport portals around the Dite, but don’t expect any rapid progression, as this is a slow grind as well. The game can be played solo or co-op with up to three other players, with side missions available from Virgil once you’ve progressed through the story a bit. One thing this game does have in common with other Metal Gear games is its depth game time available. Don’t expect a quick story mode as it can be very time consuming, with plenty of side missions to keep you busy for some time to come.

The depth of the gameplay is really what makes Metal Gear Survive such a great survival RPG game, as huge fans of the franchise, though, it just never really feels like a Metal Gear game.

It’s still a great game

9

Metal Gear Survive review code provided by publisher and reviewed on a PS4 Pro. For more information on scoring, please read: What our review scores really mean.

The post Metal Gear Survive Review – Metal Gear Zombie Hunter appeared first on Terminal Gamer - Gaming is our Passion | PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, WiiU.

Criterion’s Burnout Paradise was released over 10 years ago and became the epitome of arcade racers for the previous generation of consoles. Burnout Paradise Remastered has been reworked for this generation of consoles, but is it ready for the next generation of gamers?

Read on to find out

Developer Criterion has been making Burnout games since 2001, creating a handful of fast and fun, linear story arcade racers that started out on the PS2, original XBOX and the Gamecube.  As consoles evolved, so did Burnout games, resulting in 2008 with the open-world racer Burnout Paradise for the PS3 and the Xbox 360.

The game was received very well and grabbed well earned review scores, averaging 88 on Metacritic, and took a major leap in the series by going for the open world model versus the linear storyline that previous releases used. For those that played the original game, this is the exact same game, with a bit of spit and polish here and there, and includes every piece of DLC except for the time savers packs. We are talking about a lot of content here for 40 bucks, and all of the DLC cars are ready to run.

For those of you that have never played the original, and are looking for some fun arcade racing action, you are in for a helluva ride (even those of us that played the original are in for a nostalgic treat). The game has no set story mode, and if you see a stop light anywhere in the open world, chances are there’s an event ready and waiting for you to take a shot at.

The events range from your standard race, where you are given a location on the map and have to get there first, Stunt Runs where you earn points by drifting, jumping, smashing, or almost crashing, the Marked Man event where other racers are trying to take you down, Road Rage events where it’s your job to take folks down, time trial events called Burning Routes, some of which are vehicle specific, and more.

The open world map is huge, and has so much stuff to do, you’ll be endlessly busy trying to get as many wins as you can, so you can continue upgrading your license class. Upgrading your license resets all of the events you may have already beaten, and amps up the difficulty. It also unlocks new vehicles for you which become available in one of the four garages stashed around town. You’ll also unlock other vehicles by taking them out as they become available in the open world, so keep an eye out for these vehicles while you cruise around.

The game isn’t without its problems, though, as some things that should have been updated stayed the same. Getting around is a bit of a pain due to the GPS system isn’t very user friendly. Maybe it’s just that we are all playing on larger screen TVs these days, but the only way to know where to turn is either to memorize the map, or take your eyes off the race long enough to look at the map in the bottom right. The game does flash the street signs at the top of the screen, but that’s not always easy to see either when you are traveling at top speed and the screen is speed blurred from a major dose of NoS. Back in 2008, these things were still fairly new to racing games, but here in 2018 things have evolved to be a little more convenient and a lot less dangerous.

Ten years ago developer Criterion took a chance by reinventing their Burnout franchise. Their risk paid off and we, the gamers, reaped the rewards by playing a game that was fast, fun, forgiving, and worth every penny. Fast forward to now and Criterion is showing the next generation of gamers that their title is just as much fun now as it was back then. Even those that previously played the hell out of the game back then will enjoy a return to Paradise City.

8.5

Burnout Paradise Remastered review code provided by publisher and reviewed on a PS4 Pro. For more information on scoring, please read: What our review scores really mean.

The post Burnout Paradise Remastered Review – Triumphant Return of a Legend appeared first on Terminal Gamer - Gaming is our Passion | PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, WiiU.

Developer Ivory Tower has unleashed the highly anticipated sequel to their 2014 release The Crew. Does The Crew 2 live up to the standards of its predecessor, or was the series a victim of the sophomore slump?

Read our review to find out

Ubisoft and Ivory Tower teamed up for The Crew and published it almost 4 years ago. The continued support with DLC and updates took an already great game ( we gave it an 8 upon release), and continued to make it better. New vehicles, and new vehicle classes, took the game to another level from launch and added a depth that we didn’t even realize was missing. Fast forward to now and The Crew 2 is fully released to the world, bringing with it even more vehicles and classes, adding even more depth to this fun racing title.Upon launching the game for the first time, you are introduced to the Extreme Racing series, and three of the racing classes that will be available to you. The opening sequence starts you out in a street car, racing at high speeds through a big city, then you’ll be tossed into a boat for some serious power boat racing, followed by some air time with some airplane racing, and then tossed back onto the street to finish out the course. No need to worry about how you finish because the introductory race is just for show and has no real bearing on the game. It is an awesome introductory experience, and should get you hyped about the fun that is to come.

So Many Racing Classes

Once you’ve finished the intro, you are given a choice of one four classes to begin with. You can head to LA for some Street racing, New York for some Pro Boat racing, the Midwest from some Off Road racing, or Salt Lake City from some Freestyle events. Whichever you choose, you’ll be given a vehicle to start out with and it can already hold its own with the beginner races. We went with the boat racing, because we wanted to try out something new with the series. Boat racing within the game isn’t just racing across flat water in an empty lake, it also includes open water racing in the ocean, where you’ll have to fight the waves of nature, as well as the waves from the boats in front of you, if you’re not leading of course.

As you finish races and meet the criteria of the event (usually that means finishing in the top 3), you’ll earn new parts for that class of vehicle. Quite often in games, these parts are locked to the specific vehicle or make that earned them, and you’ll have to grind out new parts for any future vehicle purchases within that class. Not so with The Crew 2. Unlock a new motorcore for your first boat, and you’ll also be able to install it into a future, possibly faster base boat. One of our favorite classes in the game is the drag racing class, and being able to swap out parts came in handy there. While we are huge Ford fans, and started out with an awesome drag class Mustang, we found out that the Chevy Corvette, and it pains us to say this, was the better drag racing car. Being able to swap out all of the previously earned parts took the Vette to a level above what the Mustang was, even though the Performance Level was the same.

Performance Level and You

Every vehicle in the game has a current performance level, and a max available performance level. Earning new parts will slowly raise the performance level for that vehicle. Each events has a recommended performance level, and each event can also have its difficulty raised, which in turn raises the recommend performance level of your vehicle. The difference between a normal difficulty event and a hard difficulty event is pretty big, and we advise you to take heed of that recommended number. It’s not some random number but is a solid recommendation of what you need to compete. If it says you need a level 380 vehicle, trust us when we say you better have something pretty darn close to that, or higher, if you want to complete the challenge.

As you finish races and tasks around the country, you’ll be earning followers. The number of followers you have determines your current status. You’ll start out as a Rookie, slowly working your way up to Famous, then on to Star, and finally to Icon. Once you hit Icon status, leveling up adds a number to your icon name and also earns you icon points, which in turn are used to unlock extra perks found within the Pilot Profile menu. This isn’t something that was pointed out very well within the game, but once we found it, was easy to use and the extra perks do come in handy. Leveling up your Icon status can also earn you new vehicles, so climbing up the Icon ladder should keep you busy for some time to come.

How’s the actual racing?

The game has a lot of bells and whistles, with tons of eye candy and awesome graphics, but the bottom line with any racing game has to be how the game actually plays when it comes to driving and racing. There are generally two different types of racing game: the arcade racer and the simulation racer. The Crew 2 is clearly an arcade racer, with unrealistic drifting, cornering abilities, and super high speeds. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just an arcade thing. If you want realism, play some Assetta Corsa or Project Cars 2, but when it comes to pure fun and adrenaline with no need for serious driving skills, a good arcade racer like The Crew 2 can’t be beat.

Full Size Monster Trucks in a Half Pipe.

The game does have its flaws, and Street Racing highlights one of them, as it can be a frustrating experience. There’s a term called rubberbanding that comes into play and what that means is, no matter how well you do, the AI will stay right there with you, or be able to catch up even if you build a huge lead. Case in point is the Papa John Race, where you are in the Papa John Camaro and the AI is in several other older cars. It’s a race of decent length, and we had as much as a full 7 second lead at one point, but then out of nowhere, near the finish line, the AI closed that gap in a flash and we were having to fight them off. The AI had to have skipped several checkpoints in order to close that gap. We only saw this in the Street Races, so at least it wasn’t in the other classes as well.

Meant to be Played with Friends

The Crew 2 is a lot of fun to play solo, but it is even more fun to play with friends. Ubisoft knew this and was nice enough to send us four review codes so we could all play together online. Flying or driving in formation will net you bonus followers, as will doing events together. When racing in a crew and competing in events, it doesn’t really matter if you do well as long as someone in your crew meets the challenge of that event. This can allow a crew to be made up of folks that enjoy different classes and excel in those classes, while maybe not doing so well in others. Team up with someone that’s good at street races, while you are better at air racing, and you’ll both benefit when playing these events.

Some of these events can be time consuming, and the Hyper Car races can be extremely long. While the world record times may say 35 minutes, you may end up spending 45 minutes or more, so be prepared and be sure to set aside enough time to complete them. Hyper cars won’t become available until you reach Icon status, but once they do, they are long races. Every event also becomes available once you reach Icon status, so climbing up the Icon ranks will happen faster than you may think.

So Much to See and Do

The game starts out with only four items on the map of America, but as you climb the popularity board, the map fills up nicely. Areas like Miami, New York, and LA are jam packed with events for you once you hit Icon status.

The Beginning

Icon Status Unlocked

For completionists out there that are always looking for extra stuff to do, there are speed traps to be found and photo opportunities to be had. Speed traps can be found using the menu, but the photos will require you to drive around and find them. Some photos will also require you be in a crew, as we came across one that required a Ferrari to be jumped over by a monster truck. Photo mode is easy to use and all of the photos you take are saved as if you used the share button. This was smart thinking by the developer as it makes sharing these photos a breeze. You can see some of them in the photo gallery below this review.

Developer Ivory Tower took the successes of the original game and built a solid sophomore title with The Crew 2. This is arcade racing at its finest. Now go and get you AND your friend a copy.

9

The Crew 2: Gold Edition review codes provided by publisher and reviewed on a PS4 Pro. For more information on scoring, please read: What our review scores really mean.

The post The Crew 2 Review – Top Notch Arcade Racing Across America with Friends appeared first on Terminal Gamer - Gaming is our Passion | PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, WiiU.

Publisher Digerati and developer iNK Stories tasked developer Stage Clear Studios with porting 1979 Revolution: Black Friday over from the PC in order to reach a larger audience. The question is, is it worth your hard earned cash to visit 1979’s Iran on your console.

Read on to find out.

Based on true stories and historical events, 1979 Revolution: Black Friday is an interactive drama about choice and consequence, chaos and order.

The year is 1978, the place is Tehran, Iran. You play as Reza Shirazi, a young photojournalist who returns home to find his people protesting the ruling King, the Shah. Armed with your camera, you capture the emotionally-charged stories and events unfolding on the streets and in the shadows.

The game follows the formula and art style much like the Telltale universe of games, with a graphic comic style presentation and a point and click style of investigation and environmental interactions. There’s also a few quick-time scenarios that can earn you an in-game trophy if you successfully pass all of them without fail. The story is told through gameplay and dialogue but you can also dive deeper into history  through images you’ll need to take in order to replicate historical images. Once a photo is snapped, you can read the history behind that particular photo.

Your Photo

Historical Reference

Interactions with non-playable characters also add to the story and can introduce historical figures and different ideologies at play. The revolutionaries weren’t always on the same page as to what their end results should be, and the dialogue bears that out. The game does a pretty good job of pointing out each of the ideologies, and even mentions how trading one dictatorship for another isn’t necessarily progress, and might even be a step backwards.

The game isn’t very long, as we finished our first play-through in roughly 3 hours, but your decisions within the game warrants at least one more play through. You can choose violence over passive resistance and you can choose to cooperative with the authorities or resist. Your choices dictate how certain scenarios play out, but the story ends the same regardless. You can’t alter history, but you can alter how certain individuals treat you and your family in-game.

1979 Revolution: Black Friday is an interesting game, with a style of story telling that is reminiscent of a Tell tale game. The game was banned in Iran due to it being called “American propaganda”, but in actuality, it tells a brief, but honest story about not only the C.I.A.’s involvement there and how hard nosed and deadly the Shah was, but also about the internal strife within the revolution itself. The game was probably banned more for pointing out that the Iranians traded a secular dictator for an Islamic dictator, who can be just as hard nosed and deadly as the Shaw, if not more so. the game also has collectibles in the form of speeches given by several different historical figures, some of which are currently banned in Iran.

In this time of global strife, it’s always a good idea to remember where we came from and the errors of our past in order to not repeat them in the future. It is an honest game like this that will live on in history as a grim reminder of what damage governments can do, either in the name of religion or simply in order to remain in power, and sometimes both.

1979 Revolution: Black Friday is a welcome addition to anyone’s library that enjoys this style of gameplay, with a history lesson that needed to be told.

8

1979 Revolution: Black Friday review codes provided by publisher and reviewed on a PS4 Pro. For more information on scoring, please read: What our review scores really mean.

The post 1979 Revolution: Black Friday Review – History Can be Dark and Deadly appeared first on Terminal Gamer - Gaming is our Passion | PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, WiiU.

EA Sports has released its annual edition of Madden NFL 19. Is there enough of a difference to warrant a new purchase, or should you just continue to enjoy Madden NFL 18?

Read on to find out

Last season’s release of Madden NFL 18 introduced, for the first time, a real story mode for the long lasting franchise. It followed two friends through their high school football exploits as quarterback Devin Wade and wide receiver Colt Cruise led their team to a storied Texas High School State Championship. The story then followed them as they tried to make it in the NFL draft, both falling short, and both being asked to star in a reality show called Longshot, with a chance to make it in the NFL. It was a memorable story, but in the end it left Colt outside of the NFL and Devin struggling to survive and fit in somewhere with an NFL team.

Fast forward to Madden NFL 19 and we find that the struggles for both continue, with the next installment of their story: Longshot: Homecoming. Wade is trying his best to make it on the Dallas Cowboys, even if it is only as a back-up QB, while Colt is waiting patiently by the phone for his agent’s call for a tryout somewhere. The game bounces between the two story-lines and does a great job of keeping them tied together through interactions between the two good friends. The story plays out as if it was written for a movie, with intriguing characters and even some pretty big names lending their voices, likenesses, and acting skills along the way.The story is touching at times, and the voice acting is done very well.

The story mode alone is enough of a reason to get your copy of Madden NFL 19, but honestly it shouldn’t be the only reason. A sports game is only as good as its animations and comparisons to real life in both realism and the surrounding environments, and EA made the game shine. Using Frostbite’s latest gaming engine, EA has employed real motion technology to make Madden NFL 19 look and act as close to real life as possible. The smoothness of a character’s motion mimics the natural motions of a real life person to the point where Dak Prescott, in the game, looks and acts just like Dak Prescott on the field running the Dallas Cowboys offense. It’s an uncanny result that gets better every year.

For those that are into the trading card system based Ultimate Team part of the game, it has been revamped this season to add upgradeable players. For those that are new to this mode, Ultimate Team has you collecting player’s trading cards and using those cards to build your team. Once built, you can challenge other players online or work towards getting a better team by working through the many Ultimate Team Challenges, buying packs through the in-game store, hitting the auctions page, or even trading with other players. Spending real world money is a possibility, but not required to build a pretty great team.

The Ultimate Team challenges are the key to unlocking an upgradeable Hall of Fame Captain, as well as other high quality players, and for earning player packs and coins. It was odd to see arguably the greatest wide receiver ever as our team captain and only be rated a 75WR. Even at that level Jerry Rice has the hands and footwork that made him a legend, but as we spent our training points on him, he became better and better. We havn’t reached his pinnacle max yet, but he’s already our best receiver even though he’s currently rated lower than Antonio Brown on our team.

Upgradeable players, such as our Team Captain Jerry Rice, require training points in order to make them as great as possible. Not all players are upgradeable and it will say Power Up on the front of the card if it is upgradeable. Keep this in mind if you are looking at auctions and see a low rated card of a player that you know should be rated higher than he is. We picked up a 68 C Travis Frederick for next to nothing that we were able to power up to 83 within minutes of acquiring him, and that’s not even his max stat. Keep that in mind as you look through the many auctions online.

EA Sports tries every season to expand and improve on their flagship title and Madden NFL 19 continues that trend. The animations are lifelike, the teamwork is impeccable, the graphics are incredible, and the gameplay is the best yet.

9

Madden NFL 19 review code provided by publisher and reviewed on a PS4 Pro. For more information on scoring, please read: What our review scores really mean.

The post Madden NFL 19 Review – Gridiron Greatness appeared first on Terminal Gamer - Gaming is our Passion | PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, WiiU.

Kazuma Kiryu has been away from the Yakuza for a year, but can you ever really leave the Yakuza? Will he be able to stay away in Yakuza Kiwami 2? Is it worth your time and money to find out?

Read our review to find the answers to these burning questions.

Sega’s Yakuza series has been around since 2005 and initially came to life in Japan, eventually making it across the Pacific to the shores of the U.S. and around the globe. The series is based on the lifestyle of fictional Yakuza members, and for those that are unfamiliar with the term, Yakuza is the Japanese Mafia. Think Don Vito Corleone and his family of the Godfather saga. The series has had continued global success due to its colorful story telling and fun, beat-em up action. Yakuza Kiwami 2 follows on the heals of last year’s release Yakuza Kiwami.

Both of these games follows our protagonist Kazuma Kiryu through his trials and tribulations as a Yakuza, who wants nothing more than to leave the Yakuza life behind and focus on raising an orphaned young girl. Yakuza Kiwami 2 opens as he and his young friend travel to the cemetery to pay their respects to those that have fell in the past, and in doing so, you the gamer are given the opportunity to look back on things that have transpired. For those new to the series, you can catch up on everything that has happened without having to play through last years release, but honestly, you should play through last years release, Yakuza Kiwami, just for the pure enjoyment of it. There are quite a few cut scenes available to watch here, but once you’ve passed the chapter, you can always go back and watch them from the menu, so if you skip them , no need to worry about missing out.

Kiryu-san was, at one time, the 4th Chairman of the Tojo Clan. In his quest to get out of that life, he “retired” and left the family in the hands of someone else. As with most criminal enterprises such as La Cosa Nostra, the Mafia, or even a local gang, getting out of that life is damn near impossible. Just ask Don Michael Corleone. That guy won an Oscar trying to get out of it in The Godfather II, but it kept pulling him back in, no matter how hard he tried. The saying goes “Blood in, Blood out” meaning you make your bones by taking a life to enter the family, and can only leave the family in a body bag. No matter how respectful Kiryu-san was in trying to leave, he could never fully leave the life behind as it reached out from the shadows and forced him back in.

The series is well known for doing a great job of storytelling, and this release follows that same path. The characters are all well developed, and you’ll find side stories with fully fleshed characters as well. It is almost impossible to run through the story, uninterrupted by some whining woman or wailing man that is in desperate need of your assistance. The game is open world, and the world is alive and breathing with folks everywhere just waiting for your interactions, some even begging for it. You would have to have an ice cold heart to just run past some of these folks, and with Kiryu-san always wanting to help, how can you NOT let him?

We are limited by going too far into the story, so nothing after chapter 4 is included in this review. All of the screenshots in the gallery below come from the game only up to that point, so this review should be spoiler free. Even though we only played through chapter 4 though, it still took us 4 or so hours to do so, and we could have spent longer but knew this review had a deadline. There is just so much to see and do in this game, as with other Yakuza titles, that it’s easy to get joyfully lost in the side missions, and have a hard time wanting to get back to the main storyline. If you have ADHD, this game will take you FOREVER to complete, but that’s not a bad thing as these side stories are unique and so much more than just a seek, find, and return mission.

Did we mention the mini-games yet? Yeah, there’s a bunch of them to find and spend even more time on. You can play darts, golf, Virtua Fighter at the arcade, or try your luck at the crane grabbers for toys and prizes. There’s even a side mission that unlocks a casino where you can gamble at black jack, poker, or a couple of other Japanese card games. You can hit the Mahjong rooms for some tile fun, as well, and there’s a side mission that will run you through those games. It’s way too easy to get side tracked in this game, but is that really a bad thing?

The graphics and gameplay are backed by the Dragon Engine and makes the game look and play incredibly well. Kiryu-san’s fighting motions are fluid while the player models look sharp and are well detailed. As you progress through the story and earn XP, you’ll unlock more and more fighting moves for Kiryu-san, and all of these moves are smooth as the silk of a Hostess dress. The progression system is also well detailed, and expect to have to play for quite some time to max Kiryu-san out.

Yakuza Kiwami 2 is a great addition to anyone’s PlayStation library, but if you want to really get the full experience, be sure to check out the earlier games as well, if you haven’t already.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a bunch of Yakuza thugs needing the crap beat out of them outside. And here Kiryu-san thought he was done. Ha!

9

Yakuza Kiwami 2 review code provided by publisher and reviewed on a PS4 Pro. For more information on scoring, please read: What our review scores really mean.

The post Yakuza Kiwami 2 Review – Blood in, Blood Out appeared first on Terminal Gamer - Gaming is our Passion | PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, WiiU.

Season 4 of Destiny 2 has arrived, and along with it comes Destiny 2: Forsaken. Is the expansion worth your hard earned bucks, or should you spend that cash elsewhere?

Read on to find out.

The Destiny saga has come a long ways since the story began back in September of 2014. There has been quite a few enemies vanquished, and new enemies have constantly emerged that needed our guardians to eliminate. The one thing that has been constant since day one has been our supporting crew. Ikora Rey, the Warlock Vanguard, Commander Zavala, the Titan Vanguard, Cayde-6, the Hunter Vanguard, and Master Rahool, the almost always frustrating Cryptarch, have always been there for us in good times and bad, and were major characters in the series. Forsaken did the unthinkable and took one of these characters off the board for good.

Forsaken opens up as our hunter Vanguard, Cayde-6, is fighting his way through the Prison of Elders and is trying to quell a prison riot. During the battle, his trusty ghost is taken out by a sharpshooting Baron, and without his Ghost, there is no respawn. He fights an epic battle, showcasing several new Hunter abilities, but in the end, he faces off against Prince Uldren Sov, brother to a murdered Queen of the Reef and the Awoken, Mara Sov, and it is here when our friend and comedian confidant meets his maker. Uldren and his cohorts escape the prison, and it is our duty to eliminate them once and for all.

As you play through the campaign, new abilities are unlocked, depending on which class you choose to work with. All three guardian types get three new sub-classes each, and being able to unlock them all will take a serious time investment. The new max light level of 600 (up from 385) will also take some time, as once you hit 500, you’ll be taking baby steps as you inch upwards. That’s not a bad thing if you enjoy spending time in the Destiny world, and the new activities should help you enjoy it even more.

Two new areas are included with Forsaken, the Tangled Shore and the Dreaming City, but you’ll have to not only finish the campaign, but also a final quest to reach the Dreaming City. You’ll want to make sure and check in with the new NPC in the Tangled Shore, Mr. Spider, as he will point you in the right direction. He also has bounties for those missing bad guys running loose from the Prison of Elders, so be sure to farm some public events at the Tangled Shore in order to earn enough Ghost Fragments to purchase them. These bad guys can be found just about anywhere, on any planet, possibly roaming the streets or hanging out in a Lost Sector. The bounty will point you in the right direction. He also has a weekly bounty that will task you with taking down a 540 light level escapee, but be warned, those adventures are no joke.

Once you’ve reached the Dreaming City, be sure to speak to that area’s NPC Petra, as she’ll have bounties for you as well that can earn you a powerful engram. She also has offerings for another new event type found only in the Dreaming City, the Blind Well. For those of you that played the original Destiny, you should remember the Court of Oryx, where you could summon increasingly harder enemies, and earn better gear by defeating them. The Blind Well is similar in that there are four levels of summoning dependent on which offering is being used. Tier Level I, while not too hard, should only be attempted when you have at least 3 level 50/500+ guardians. Levels II and III, you better have quite a few more folks armed to the gills and ready to roll, because those get harder and harder, exponentially.

Once you have your first new sub class fully upgraded, you’ll need to successfully complete Tier II runs a random number of times, and eventually you’ll receive a seed of light which will allow you to start working on a second sub class. We successfully completed over 15 runs before finally getting our seed of light, but some folks say they got one after completing it once. Regardless of how many times it takes, it is a fun new event that will test your skills immensely.

Another new event type is a mix between PVE and PVP called Gambit. In this mode, it’s a 4v4 battle where you are divided into separate areas and are tasked with taking out large groups of enemies. These enemies drop motes of light, which you’ll need to pick up and bank in your center console. You can gather as many as 15 at a time, and create blockers that spawn tough bosses that will block the other team’s console. Be careful hanging on to too many motes at a time, though, because if you go down, you’ll lose those motes for your team. Bank enough motes to summon a Primeval, and then take him down for the victory.

The mode is simple enough, but there’s also an invasion tactic available where you can invade the other team’s area, or they can invade yours, and try to slow them down by taking them out. Keep in mind that this is only a 4v4 game type, so if one person is invading the other side, that just leaves three to try to bank those motes or take down a big guy. You may be slowing the other team down, but how much are you really helping your own team? All in all, Gambit is an intensely fast paced and fun game type that blurs the line between PVP and PVE nicely.

One other nice change to mention is how you access your collections of weapons, armor, ghosts, vehicles, or flair. You have probably found a lot more than you realize, and may have even forgotten about some of your old favorites. From the menu, tab over to the collections menu and you’ll not only be able to look at all you have found, but repurchase them as well. Want a high level Hard Light but accidentally dismantled one a while back? Purchase one here and then infuse it with a high level energy weapon of your choosing. Need a ghost to help find stuff on a given planet? Find the planetary ghost in the collection and purchase it for a small amount of glimmer. Such a handy little tool.

Destiny 2: Forsaken not only kicks off Season 4 with a bang, but brings so many new bells and whistles, that you’ll be busy for many hours to come. Working towards that new max level will not be an easy task but you’ll need to be pretty high to take down some of those escapees as well as completing the new raid which drops on September 14, 2018.

Thanks Bungie for expanding on an already great game, and making it even better!

9

Destiny 2: Forsaken review code provided by publisher and reviewed on a PS4 Pro. For more information on scoring, please read: What our review scores really mean.

The post Destiny 2: Forsaken Review – The Grind is Real appeared first on Terminal Gamer - Gaming is our Passion | PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, WiiU.

The NBA season is rapidly approaching, so that means it’s time for the latest NBA video game release season as well. The NBA Live series has hit the market running, but is it worth your time and hard earned cash?

Read on before deciding to hit the hardwood with this title.

The NBA Live franchise has been around since 1994 and originally set the bar for NBA video games. As long time fans of the series, we found ourselves broken hearted and sadly disappointed with the release of NBA Live 14, and the series has slowly been climbing back into grace since that sad release. Developer EA Tiburon issued an apology back then, and took all of the criticism to heart, creating better and better games every year since. This year’s release takes another step in the right direction.

Whether you’re new to the series or a seasoned veteran, your first stop should always be the drills section. This on-boarding feature can teach new players all of the moves and can introduce new moves to the veterans that might not have been present before. It’s also a great way to check out some new player animations and learn how to fake out defenders with moves like the “nutmeg” where you dribble behind your back, and then pass the ball between the defenders legs, and immediately grab the ball for a nice lay-up or a dunk. These one-on-one drills can help make you a better all-around baller when it comes time to take on a full game.

Once you’ve familiarized yourself with the drills and gameplay, it’s time to jump in and decide where you want to go. NBA Live 19 gives you quite a few options to choose from, and that’s not a bad thing. We decided to start on our road to the NBA by starting with The One and working our way to The League, and in the process unlocked some items for use in the other modes. In The One, this is basically the story mode where you’ll be a topic of discussion by the always loud Stephen A. Smith and the other talking heads of ESPN.

You start out as a 19yr old high school phenom who forgoes college and wants to jump right into the NBA 9or WNBA depending on your gender). To do this, you’ll have to make a lasting impression in a foreign country, and then take on a WNBA star and an NBA Star in court battles. Completing these battles unlocks player items for you to use in other modes, so it’s not a bad idea to at least play through the early part of The One. You can use your own likeness in the game by utilizing the returning feature Gameface HD during the create-a-player set-up, and you can create a male or female character. Our trip the the NBA didn’t take too long, and once we completed the NBA Combine game, our guy went 1st in the draft to the Phoenix Suns. Not being a fan of the Suns wasn’t that big of a problem since we could immediately as for a trade to any team in the league we wanted, so we picked Sacramento.

The mode almost seemed complete, but we never really connected to our mentor who kept texting us and trying to help us to be better players and a better person. With no real personal connection, he was just a guy on the other end of a text message. We felt more connected to the journalist that contacted us unsolicited. These text messages would lead to questions that would determine our weekly goals and would determine what type of player we wanted to become. Whether it was team oriented or completely selfish was up to us, and we could even throw our coaches under the bus if we felt so inclined. All in all, it was a fun mode to play and our path to NBA Greatness has been a lot of fun so far. We did have to work up from a bench player with minimal minutes to a full time starter, but it’s pretty easy to fast forward to your time on the court. We played well and made it to starter only 5 games into the season, so it wasn’t like we were vying for the 6th Man Award.

Gameplay itself has come a long ways since the debacle of ’14. From ’15 on, the game has grown immensely, and this year’s addition of Madden NFL’s “Real Player Motion Tech” gives the NBA players a real life look and feel. You can see Steph Curry’s style as if it’s in a real game, and players look just like their real life counterparts. Driving in for a lay-up or a dunk, you can see the fluid motion of the players and in 4k, some folks might take a double take thinking it was really a game on ESPN. The only real complaint as far as gameplay is the staleness and repetition of the announcers. EA has been pretty good about updating these audio bites dynamically throughout the season, so hopefully they’ll start adding in new soundbites quickly. Hearing about someone getting smashed in the mouth every game gets old in a hurry.

Once you decide to take a break from The League, you can head over to one of the new modes this year called Court Battles. This mode is very deep and well detailed and will have you setting up a team the AI will use to defend your home court, while you use that same line-up to try and take over other courts across the globe. It’s an interesting mode that can be a lot of fun as you take on player’s teams using special rules and player handicaps that set the tone of how a game will unfold.

One pretty cool feature is the custom court creator. Your home court doesn’t have to be a cookie cutter type court, but can be completely customized with colors and text of your choosing. Joel Embid’s custom court is just crazy, but you can create one to your liking pretty easily, with an easy to use interface that doesn’t take a rocket scientist to use. Your home court factors into several different modes, so be sure to create a unique space that says a lot about you.

Returning as always is a franchise mode where you can take a franchise from zero to hero, or just take the reigns of an already spectacular franchise. there’s also EA’s Ultimate Team if you want to open packs and build a great team to play folks online with. These teams seem to end up stacked by folks with money to burn, but a team is only as great as the person holding the controller, so as with any sports title, having a stacked team does not make one unbeatable. There’s also a Play Now mode for both the NBA and the WNBA if you are looking for a quick game to satisfy your basketball urges.

The NBA Live franchise continues to grow and excel and NBA Live 19 has turned out to be the best one yet. With authentic player motions, and incredibly lifelike graphics, you can’t go wrong with this NBA video game.

8

NBA Live 19 review code provided by publisher. For more information on scoring, please read: What our review scores really mean.

The post NBA Live 19 Review – A Continually Improving Franchise appeared first on Terminal Gamer - Gaming is our Passion | PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, WiiU.

The World’s most famous boxer has a new understudy, and it’s up to you to guide him to glory in VR. Is Creed: Rise to Glory worthy of the ring, or should it return to training camp?

Read on to find out.

The saga that is the Rocky Balboa movie series has been around since Sylvester Stallone brought it to life in 1976. The franchise has earned over US$1.4 BILLION since then, and with the next generation of fighters making their big screen debut, it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. While Rocky himself has retired as a fighter, his former arch rival, and eventual best friend, Apollo Creed, had a son who is ready to step into his father’s foot steps and step into the ring. The movie series has always had a great storyline with iconic roles and lines. I “pity the fool” that doesn’t know the series.

The Rocky franchise has had more than a few video game tie-ins, but never in VR and never in first person mode. The only game to do first person mode in a boxing title was EA Sports Fight Night Round 3, but that was for the last generation of consoles and the mode didn’t return for Fight Night Round 4. Playing in first person, in VR, is exactly what a boxing game needed, and Creed: Rise to Glory does it almost flawlessly. The only thing missing is a damage model for both you and your opponent. There’s no swelling or blood or physical signs of damage, and your vision is never altered by an eye almost swollen shut or an eye with blood dripping into it.

The game gives you the chance to jump right into the campaign and has some hands on tutorials to get you started, but if you’re serious about doing well, you should hit freeplay first and take on the training exercises. There are nine different modes for you to train with, and mastering these will not only help you master the game, but give you an idea as to the physical challenges you have to look forward too. These exercises include a punching dummy, a heavy bag, and even a side of beef, to name a few, and teach you how to throw punches at angles as well as straights, hooks, and uppercuts. If you are new to boxing, it really is a great place to start and get your footing in the sport, at least as far as video games go.

When you feel you are ready for your first fight, you can either fight in freeplay mode or start your journey with Adonis Creed. Either way, be sure to have a couple of bottles of water and a towel handy, as you will need them. Be sure to stay hydrated and be sure to keep that sweat off your brow so your headset stays clean and firmly in place. This really is a physical game and you’ll need plenty of space to move around in as well. The game does an incredible job of tracking your body’s movement and you’ll be ducking and moving your head a lot. Glove tracking and angles are picked up nicely as well. Uppercuts and hooks look and feel awesome when they land, and doing a Mickey Ward double tap paid great dividends (that’s a tap to the head and a monster shot to the liver) as the AI never saw the second punch coming.

Bobbing and weaving is also tracked well. As ducking and dodging your opponent’s punches really is the key to survival. Just remember, “Make him miss, then make him pay.” The distance between you and your opponent is also always changing, so be aware of your reach distance and keep an eye on your stamina. A stamina meter would be a nice addition, but as it is you can only tell your stamina is low by the color of your gloves. Blocking big punches is also a stamina drain, so it’s better to duck and dodge when you can. Rounds are short, and you’ll be thankful for that.

Playing through the campaign is predictable, as most movie tie-ins are, but depending on your difficulty settings, it can be down right brutal. The announcers and the fight commentary is pretty entertaining, so that’s a plus. If you’ve seen the first Creed movie, then almost all of the fighters will be instantly recognizable as almost all of them appeared in it. If you haven’t seen it, go see it soon as it is a great chapter in the Rocky saga, and fight fans will enjoy it. There’s another Creed movie coming out this fall that also adds to the franchise, but this game hasn’t touched on it, yet?

The graphics for the game are pretty damn good, and that’s surprising with this being a VR only title. We have played the game on both the PS4 Pro and the Oculus and both were pretty much the same, graphically speaking. PlayStation and Oculus owners will not only need the VR headset and camera, but two hand controllers as well, so keep that in mind if you are still missing those in your collection of peripherals. A spectator mode, where the TV is not showing the VR view but an in-game view instead, would be a nice addition. As it is, most folks will have a hard time watching someone else play, while the person playing should have zero effects of motion sickness.

The game has several online features to help you in challenging your friends and others around the world. Each training exercise has a leaderboard that keeps track of you, your friends, and the world. We were number one in several categories a couple days ago, but that seems to have changed now that the game is fully released.We thought our numbers were pretty impressive until we saw that the global leaderboard had 3 entries for one of the heavy bag minigames.

There’s also a head-to-head mode where you can step in the ring and go toe-to-toe with friends and strangers online. We had to match up with a developer in order to find someone online (the pains of getting early copies) and the guy beat us senseless. the connection was fast and painless, with no lag or glitches. While he was using us as a punching bag he did tell us why the rounds were so short. While developing the game, the longer a round went on the more out of their active play area they physically became. Shorter rounds allowed them to reset their bodies in the center of their play area without getting too far away.

Boxing fans haven’t had a video game entry solely for them this entire generation of consoles, and they haven’t been happy with that. Several UFC titles have come and gone, and even the WWE has had some great entries as well, but boxing fans haven’t been able to enjoy the sweet science at all. If you have VR capability, you can’t say that anymore.

Creed: Rise to Glory does a great job of incorporating true boxing mechanics, with true 1:1 body tracking, and gave us a true feel of contact when those gloves landed squarely on the opponent. While we do wish the game had a few more bells and whistles, with a damage system, and maybe more fighters, this US$29.99 game gave us a true boxing experience and is more than worth the small price tag.

9

Creed: Rise to Glory review code provided by publisher. For more information on scoring, please read: What our review scores really mean.

The post Creed: Rise to Glory Review – The VR Boxing Game We Needed appeared first on Terminal Gamer - Gaming is our Passion | PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, WiiU.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey releases to early access on Tuesday, but we have been deep into the Grecian world of 431BC for a while. Is the journey worth your time and hard earned cash or is it best buried in the past?

Read on to find out.

The Assassin’s Creed franchise has been around since 2007 and has traveled through time to just about every era imaginable. With the last release going all the way back to ancient Egypt, we wondered which direction the next installment would go. We were intrigued when we heard that it would travel all the way back to the dawn of civilization and and we were curious to see which historical figures from the Grecian world we would encounter, or possibly have to kill.

Greece and the Peloponnesian War

The game opens up as Leonidas and the Spartan army are fending off Xerxes and his Persian army in the battle of Thermopylae (think 300). It’s mostly a visual cut scene, rendered in game, giving you the background of the Spartan story and the battle itself, but there is a short fighting sequence where you’ll get to fight as Leonidas. This combat sequence introduces some basic combat moves, but is short and gets you back to the story at hand rather quickly. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is based entirely during the Peloponnesian War, which came about thirty years later.

Once you’ve played through the opening sequence, you are given your first of many choices in the game. You can play as either the male protagonist Alexios or the female protagonist Kassandra. Both have the same basic traits and this is a choice that determines mostly cosmetic differences in the beginning, but alters the overall storyline somewhat. We don’t want to say anything other than that so as not to spoil anything. We chose Kassandra simply because we wanted a strong female protagonist. You are also given an eagle to fly with you that can be used as a drone for investigative purposes and for tagging enemies and finding treasures. In explore mode, your eagle will be your key to finding your next objective, as he has a keen eye for detail.

Once you make your pick, you can then choose the difficulty setting and whether you want a guided experience showing you your next destinations or a more isolated experience where you’ll have to explore more of the world around you, following hints and clues given to you by quest givers. This decision will affect your overall play time and might stretch your game play exponentially, depending on your ability to follow clues. We started out in explore mode but eventually had to jump into guided mode so we could get farther into the game at a faster pace. Currently we are 43+ hours into the game and are close to 90% finished with the main storylines.

Herodotus, Hippokrates, and Sokrates

The story follows our orphaned protagonist as she/he travels as a mercenary, throughout the ancient lands surrounding the Aegean Sea. This being 431 BC, we were hoping to meet some famous people and the game didn’t disappoint. Herodotus, the father of recorded history is introduced early on with a quest, as well as the father of modern medicine, Hippokrates. You interact with them briefly, and Hippokrates is shown to be a man of mercy and caring, driven by sad horrors from his past. We get to spend more time with Sokrates, as he has an entire quest line attached to him. They show him as being a man of double speak and wittiness, with conversations that are actually incredibly deep and pointed. He is one of our favorite NPCs in the game and comes across as the intelligent man of the world we expected.

We won’t reveal any more of the main storylines here so as not to spoil anything but we will say that the writers went all out to create intrigue, sorrow, conflict, joy and a depth to many of the characters that you wouldn’t normally come across in a video game. At this point, it feels like we have been binge watching an awesome mini-series on Netflix or Showtime, rather than playing through a video game. We have laughed with Kassandra, fretted over our choices with her, almost shed a tear with her, and have enjoyed the violent roller coaster ride of emotion with her. From anger to sadness to joy, we have experienced it all with her. Your choices early on in the game have lasting effects that you may not see or realize until much later, and with the game having nine different endings, you may not know the true outcome of a decision until the credits finally roll.

A True to Form RPG, Perfected

The Assassin’s Creed series has evolved over the years from what was once just a stealthy action/adventure series, where killing was key and the weapons were basic but effective, into a more RPG game where weapons and player level are more defined and selective, and fully upgradeable. Originally, the series was a linear journey based on a storyline, where you progressed at the rate the story needed you too. With Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, you progress at a rate dependent upon what you want do and how you want to do it. The game uses an open world map, so you can visit any region at any time, but keep in mind that each region has a power level for basic combat, and jumping into a region too far above your power level means death when in combat. If you’re a level 30, a level 33 would be a major challenge and a level 35 would be an almost impossible hill to climb.

Weapons also increase in power level as you find them, and as you loot them from the folks you kill. The weapon selection in the game is incredibly deep, and each weapon type is tied to a different play type. If you are a warrior, and prefer straight up combat, swords will probably be your weapon of choice, but if you’re a more stealthy player, daggers will be more efficient for you due to their perks and speed of use. For the real brutes out there, axes and maces work great and really bring the pain, but are much slower to wield and use. Weapon types and armor are tied to one of three skill sets that have upgradable perks in your skill trees. Weapons and armor can be found in one of four categories: Common, Rare, Epic, and Legendary. There are blacksmiths found in every town or city that can upgrade weapons and armor, or engrave them with perks to make them more effective.

Skill Trees of Choice

There are three skill trees for you to work with and upgrade, and each time you level up you earn a skill point. This really determines the direction you want your mercenary to grow. You can try to upgrade these equally, but ranking up is slow and ability points can be hard to come by. There are hidden tombs around the game world that hold ability points, and finding them can help you unlock some more perks, but ultimately it is upgrading your power level that is key to the game. For you stealth loving assassin’s out there, there are stealth upgrades that can take you from being a deadly shadow, to being invisible when needed. Hiding in the bushes and whistling at a bad guy is a great way to take someone out, but we wish there was a “throw a rock” feature so we could maybe just ease around them instead.

The skills tree also has a warrior branch and a hunter branch. The warrior is where you’ll find perks for those that want to just go head on and take people and places down with brute strength and force. The hunter perks are great for ranged attacks with your bow, and when upgraded enough, can almost work like a sniper rifle with a pretty decent range. Using knockout arrows are a great way to leave someone with a headache, but also alive. You can also unequip weapons so your empty handed, and then knock folks out with just your fists. Once someone is knocked out, you can recruit them to come go to work for you on your ship, the Adrestia, as a lieutenant.

Naval Battles Return

Early on in your journey you’ll be tasked with finding a ship to complete a quest. Once you befriend a gentleman named Barbados, he offers you his ship and his services. The Adrestia is fully upgradeable and continues the trend of deep RPG elements, and as you upgrade the hull, you’ll be able to recruit up to four lieutenants. One thing to note, as you scout out areas with your trust eagle Ikaros, highlighting a NPC wll show an icon for that character, and how he or she may help your ship if recruited. As with weapons and armor, these NPCs can be Common, Rare, Exotic, or Legendary, so be sure to keep an eagle eye out for folks that may help you in battle.

Naval warfare consists of firing volleys of arrows and javelins at enemy ships, while moving around on what can be a crazy and wild sea. You can also ram into ships. Firing fire arrows becomes possible once you unlock that upgrade, and these fire arrows can create weak points that, when rammed at a decent speed, will rip an enemy vessel in half, feeding its occupants to the sharks and the sea. There are times, when not in battle, that a storm may come out of nowhere and you’ll feel like Poseidon himself wants you dead. Huge rolling waves will toss you and slam against you, challenging your navigation skills when trying to reach the far corners of this world.

Conquest and Aiding in the War Effort

As a mercenary, who you choose to fight for and with, is always up to you. Each region of this ancient world is being controlled by someone and their army, and it’s up to you to decide which side of the war you want to help. Usually it’s the one offering you Drachmae (money) for your services, but if you’re an idealist, maybe not. Either way, each region you’ll encounter has a defense level that can be lowered by taking out folks from whichever faction, either Athenian or Spartan, controls it and by taking out the leader for that region. Once the level is low enough, it unlocks a Conquest Battle for that region.

Conquest battles are old school, toe-to-toe, open warfare free-for-alls, where you fight who’s in front of you, or beside you, or both. As you take out the minions, you’ll unlock captains that need eliminated, and then rinse and repeat. Eventually you’ll unlock the leader on the battlefield for these forces, and you’ll have to take him down to win the conquest. These battles unlock a decent supply of gear, as each captain can be looted, and the final bad guy usually has the best gear to take from his dead and bloody corpse.

Bounty Hunters and The Arena

As you travel around the game world completing quests, you’re bound to piss folks off and these folks will put a price on your head. Once you have a bounty against you, a bounty gauge will pop up on the lower right of your screen telling you how bad it is. The higher the heat, the more mercenaries that will come looking for you. We hit level five once, and we got to meet Exekias and four other mercenaries in one area. We were only a level 25 at the time, so we hightailed it out of there as fast as we could and decided to just pay the bounty off, cooling the heat in the process. Probably the best 3K Drachmae spent in the game, and keep in mind that some of these folks have animals fighting beside them. Fighting a grizzly bear is bad enough, but having someone shooting you with arrows at the same time? That’s more than annoying.

These bounty hunters can be tracked down, and once you take them out, you’ll get whatever gear they were carrying. In our quest to take one down, we ended up in the southern most region of the sea and found the arena. Here is where you can become a legend. There are five champions waiting to take you on, each with a higher level than the one before it. When you do take one on, you are faced first with four rounds of minions, each a little harder than the last, with the final round being the champion. You should probably wait to hit the arena until you are level 50, as these fights are no joke.

So Many Things to See and Do

The open world map for Assassin’s Creed Odyssey has to be one of the largest ever created for a video game. The game world is MASSIVE. The map is chock full of small towns and cities, each with their own message boards full of quests and things to do. Almost every city feels unique, with incredible detail that makes the game world come alive. Forests are full of animals, some of which will eat you if given a chance, and are different from region to region, again giving each region a unique feel. The game goes from rocky, mountainous regions, all the way down to white sandy beaches at sea level. With ancient architecture and statues everywhere, the game clearly looks and feels like the thriving dawn of civilization it intended to portray. From Macedonia in the North all the way to Messara in the South, this is how a game world should be.

Developer Ubisoft Quebec has invested over 3 years in the making of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and in all honesty, it feels like it should have taken longer. The level of detail, coupled with the impressive 4K graphics on both the PC and the console versions, gives the game a lifelike feel, with lifelike environments and animals, and lifelike characters. The depth of the writing and voice acting makes those characters come alive as we journey through the game with them.

For long time fans of the series, being able to play the game as a true silent assassin, blending into the shadows and killing without leaving a trace in an area way above your current power level, should give them the stealth action and adrenaline they are craving, while the deep RPG elements should cater to those that love a true adventure . Whichever style you choose, expect to spend a lot of time in this incredible world.

A small portion of the very large game world

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is what an RPG should strive to be. Lengthy, challenging, diverse, deep, and fun.

In a word: Perfection.

10

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey review code provided by publisher. For more information on scoring, please read: What our review scores really mean.

The post Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Review: RPG Perfected appeared first on Terminal Gamer - Gaming is our Passion | PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, WiiU.

Ryder and the Paw Patrol gang are making their console and PC gaming debut in a brand new adventure. Does the game live up to the quality of the TV series, or should you find some other way to keep your kiddos busy?

Read our review to find out

No job is too big, and no pup is too small. The animated Paw Patrol TV series has been showing kids how to use teamwork and giving them positive messages since 2013. The group of puppies is guided by their human boy Ryder, with each puppy having a unique job to do and a uniform and back pack full of tools to match. You’ve got a fire pup, a construction and demolition pup, a flying pup, a police pup, and more. It’s up tio Ryder to guide them on their missions in order to rescue who or what is in danger. The video game follows along these same lines and brings with it a bunch of adventures for kids to play through.

Paw Patrol On a Roll starts out with Ryder telling you about your first rescue mission. It appears some small ducks are stuck in a pond with the water level too low for them to climb out, and the path to them is a bit of a maze. Each mission is split into two parts, and requires two different characters to complete. The first mission has you starting out as the police pup Chase, a young German Shepherd, and then at the half way point you switch over to the fire pup Marshall, a young Dalmatian. Each character has their own unique set of backpack tools at their disposal, and when it comes time to use them, Ryder asks you which one you want to use. Answering wrong is of no consequence, and you can just press the correct button and get to work. It’s a simple system that works well with little ones and doesn’t require a lot of memory work.

As you play through each mission, you’ll occasionally come across an obstacle you can’t deal with on your own so you’ll have to yelp for help. Maybe there are seagulls blocking the path and you can call up Chase to blast his siren in his police car, or maybe there’s boulders and you need the bulldog Rubble to come bulldoze them out of the way. Whatever the case, Ryder guides you to yelp for help and all you have to do is press the correct button and the proper puppy is summoned.

The game is a great introductory lesson on basic platforming for small children and will teach them how to maneuver through jumps and double jumps, all the while teaching them how collectibles work as well. Each level has 200 pup treats to pick up and 5 Gold Paws to collect. While the paws are almost completely unmissable, and Ryder tells you when one is near by, those 200 pup treats can be tricky. You’ll have backtrack many times if you want to grab them all, and if you miss one you’ll have to start back at the beginning of the level at zero again. Finishing at 199 can make for some sad faces.

The few puzzles in the game aren’t very challenging, and that’s OK. Building bridges by matching patterns is about the extent of them, but the game is catered to small children and they can pick-up and play by themselves pretty easily. The game really does a great job of tying in all of the pups from the series and utilizes their unique skill-sets well. After having sat through many TV episodes of the series, the game really does stay true to the Paw Patrol series and the messaging they have always sent out. The graphics are almost identical to the TV series and the background music is light and fun.

If you have a young Paw Patrol fan around the house, or if you are looking for a gift for a grandkid that loves the series, they’ll really enjoy this game.

8

Paw Patrol: On a Roll review code provided by publisher. For more information on scoring, please read: What our review scores really mean.

The post Paw Patrol: On a Roll Review – The Kiddos Will Love It appeared first on Terminal Gamer - Gaming is our Passion | PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, WiiU.

The Jackbox Party Pack team has unleashed The Jackbox Party Pack 5 for you and your friends, but the real question remains: Is this release party worthy or will it kill your next bash?

Read on to find out

The Jackbox Party Pack series has been around for a few years now and each Party Pack gives you five or more separate games to play, bundled within the main title, that are designed for multi-player, party time fun. The game is centered on multi-player interactions and caters to a more adult audience. You can make some games family friendly if you want by selecting that option in the settings. The games do not use regular controllers, but use mobile devices as controllers instead. No separate application is needed on your device as it just uses your web browser and most newer devices are supported.

The Jackbox Party Pack 5 includes You Don’t Know Jack: Full Stream, Split the Room, Mad Verse City, Patently Stupid and Zeeple Dome. Each of these titles are very different from the rest, making them unique and making this pack very party friendly. This really is five games in one, and the amount of fun you can have is only limited by your restraint or your lack of useless knowledge, depending on which game you are playing. Each game can be viewed by anyone online, even if they aren’t in the same room, and all they need is your unique room code to watch, and sometimes vote, depending on the game being played.

You Don’t Know Jack: Full Stream is the latest release of this series, and this version can be streamed easily to your own Twitch channel. The game is a trivia based challenge game, asking a lot of useless information questions, with a few tid bits of info that will make you question the developer’s researching skills, and sometimes their sanity. Everything we checked out was spot on (we didn’t check their sanity, though), so put the bragging rights on the line and see who does know Jack.

Split the Room is a game hosted by an omnipresent cat about creating “decisive dimensions”. Each player is given a hypothetical situation with a crucial element missing, and must fill in the blank. Then the situation is presented to the rest of the players, who each must pick where they side. The player who completed the situation then receives points based on how evenly the votes were split. The final round, known as the “Decisive Dimension”, gives all players the same prompt. Creativity is the key to fun, but honesty in voting should also be kept in mind.

Mad Verse City has up to 8 players, as giant robots, trying to out-rap their opponents. In each round, players are given who they are trying to out-rap, and use their device to fill in various prompts given to them. The game then runs through each rap using a text-to-speech voice, and players give points to the rap that they feel is the best. This was the hardest game for most of us to play, as who can rhyme on demand these days? We did find it more fun the meaner we got too each other, just keep in mind if someone in your party is thick skinned enough to take a good ribbing.

Each game of Patently Stupid is played in three rounds and we found this to be the most creatively fun game in the pack. In the first round, all players are given two fill-in-the-blank prompts that describe an everyday problem that may need solving. In the second round, half of those prompts with the completed answers are redistributed to the other players; each player then must draw out an idea for an invention that would solve that problem, give it a catchy name and a short description. In the final round, these problems and inventions are presented to players; players who are local or audible can attempt to pitch and sell their invention. Players and audience members then vote on their top 3 favorite inventions.

In Zeeple Dome, up to six players play as contestants in an alien combat arena, the Zeeple Dome, to take down other aliens. The game is physics based, and has players slingshot their characters across the game’s levels, cooperatively working together to eliminate enemies and gain powerups for their team. The launch app is pretty easy to use on your mobile device but does have a small learning curve. Each of the characters on the screen are color coordinated, and working together to take down the bad guys based on your character’s color is the key to clearing each wave. Once we figured this out, everyone started screaming which color needed to get busy hitting the bad guys.

The Jackbox Party Pack 5 is a fun addition to the series and makes for some cool party fun. The in-game directions for each is a little lacking, but once you play through each game once, everyone should understand exactly what to do. Games that require user text input can be given more time for typing in the settings, and this is something that is a must for those uf us that have bug thumbs and are using little screens. Tablets like the iPad have a bit of an advantage as they are easier to use with the larger keyboard and screen, so keep that in mind when you are getting ready to play.

The Jackbox Party Pack 5 is available on multiple platforms, but there have been issues with trying to download and play it on the Amazon Firestick and Fire TV devices, so be sure to check compatibility for your device. Console players haven’t had any related issues.

The Jackbox Party Pack 5 is a fun set of games that can liven up your party.

8

The Jackbox Party Pack 5 review code provided by publisher. For more information on scoring, please read: What our review scores really mean.

Some text borrowed from Wikipedia

The post The Jackbox Party Pack 5 Review – Party Time Fun appeared first on Terminal Gamer - Gaming is our Passion | PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, WiiU.

Developer Rockstar Games has finally released the next installment in the Red Dead series, Red Dead Redemption 2. Should you jump on your horse and ride in to help out or ride away as fast as you can?

Read our review to find out

Rockstar Games has been developing the Red Dead series since 2004, with releases coming few and far between. In this day and age of annual releases from some popular titles like the Call of Duty and Battlefield franchises, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. When Read Dead Redemption released in 2010, 6 years after the original Read Dead Revolver, it was not only met with critical acclaim, but also went on to sell more than 17 million copies through 2017. It was the most expensive game ever developed at the time, but its longevity is a testament to how great of a core game Rockstar Games created and shows that the development cost was money well spent.

Fast forward to 2018, and we now have the next installment in this series, Read Dead Redemption 2. It is the prequel to Red Dead Redemption and takes place about 10 years prior to it. It follows the story of outlaw Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde gang, and even includes the main character from Red Dead Redemption John Marston. The story follows their exploits as they try to evade and escape the law and the Pinkertons through the mountains, woods, plains, and the bayous spread out across the living and breathing map that is the open world of Read Dead Redemption 2.

The storylines of the game are many, with the main storyline just being a fraction of the whole. Non playable characters are everywhere, and all of them can be interacted with. Arthur has the option of being a nice guy or an asshole to anyone and everyone he meets, and your overall Honor Meter will reflect your general attitude and can even net you some discounts if you are a nice enough guy. How some missions play out will be solely dependent on these choices, and Arthur can choose between defusing a situation with his words, his fists, or his guns, or he can just ride on by and ignore some of these situations altogether. Not much fun in staying out of it, though.

Suring some missions Arthur will have other choices that determine how a mission is accomplished. For example, Arthur and the gang are approaching a cabin in the woods with a sworn enemy of Dutch Van der Linde possibly inside. Arthur can opt to go in nice and quiet, maybe sneaking up on all of the bad guys outside without alerting whoever is in the cabin, or he can opt to go in guns blazing, blasting through the bad guys and giving the guy in the house a chance to maybe barricade himself in. The choice is entirely up to you, and each method has its pros and cons.

Arthur is more than just a static video game character that you’ll use to kill and maim folks. He’s a living, breathing human that needs constant care in order to survive and stay pleasantly approachable. One more than one occasion I have found myself being told by a town’s merchant that my odor was unpleasant and that the town’s hotel or saloon offered bathing services. two weeks can go by fairly quickly in the game, and the next thing you know folks that get too close to you are giving you an olfactory offended look and a wide berth. Your hair can get long and scraggly as well, but a shave and a haircut is a quick solution to that, and both come with many options for the out and about outlaw who wants to look dapper for the ladies. Arthur’s wardrobe options are pretty expansive and more options are unlocked as you progress through the main storyline. One quick tip if you ever lose your hat: Jump on your horse and open the weapons wheel, toggle to your inventory and your hat will be waiting for you.

Your relationships in the game with other NPCs is sometimes determined by how you interact with them. Folks can be very friendly if you are a nice guy, and just the opposite if you aren’t. The most important relationship, in our opinion, has to be your relationship with your horse, though. Your trusty steed is more than just a method of travel, as it too is a living and breathing animal, in constant need of care and nurturing. Early on we found a wild Arabian Stallion in the Northwestern wilderness, high in the snowy mountains. Once tamed and saddled, Sweet Caroline became our trusty steed and we have spent many hours riding her through the backroads and wilderness of the game. With her being white, it’s easy to see how dirty she can get, and not keeping her clean is detrimental to her overall health and abilities. A quick brush down and she’s snowy white again. Keeping her well fed is also a must, so be sure to keep apples, carrots, and hay handy for her. Shop owners and stables do sell revives for horses and we always keep stocked up on them because if your horse dies, it’s dead forever.

One of the biggest complaints we have for the game is the pace of play. Early on, there is next to nothing for fast travel and due to the large map, it takes a while to ride from point A to point B. While this does introduce you to many side stories and missions, it can also become repetitive and almost boring. While the environments are gorgeous to look at, and alive with a lot of wild life, sometimes you just want to get to your objective and start or complete a mission. Eventually you’ll be able to use stage coaches and trains for fast travel, and you’ll even get a fast travel map that’s stationary at camp, but that takes a while to get to and it would be nice to be able to travel a little faster between points A and B.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is first and foremost an RPG, and as with most RPGs, you have an upgrade system for almost everything, and this includes your camp, your horse, and your firearms. One of the things that surprised us was how our weapons would get dull looking and dirty over time. A quick trip to a gunsmith was needed so as to clean all of our weapons. While we were there, we went ahead and added some extra rifling to our barrels, better sights, and even a scope to our favorite hunting rifle. The also had some nice engravings for the stocks and grips, as well as engravings for the metal, but those were only cosmetic and those don’t improve the handing of the weapons. As for the weapons themselves, you’ll find your basic Old West type of firearms, plus a few newer semi-autos that are a nice addition and very handy.

As we mentioned earlier, the landscape is alive with many animals, and all of them can be hunted, skinned, and eaten. The hides for these critters can be sold or used around camp, and the meat can be donated to the camp or sold to a butcher. There are also legendary animals waiting for you hunt them down or fish them out of water , but be warned that these aren’t just ordinary critters. Fishing for one of these legendary animals was one of the toughest things we’ve had to do yet, and we spent 30 minutes reeling that sucker in.

Red Dead Redemption 2 not only has a large open world, it is also a gorgeous large open world. So much time was spent with an attention to detail by the developer, that everything looks incredible in 4K with the PS4 Pro. Character animations while running, tripping, falling, diving the hell out of the way, everything looks lifelike. Watching the facial animations of characters through a cut scene shows true emotion through the eyes and mouths and brows, with looks of anger, surprise, fear, disgust, and more easily discernible. It’s a pretty impressive feat in a video game with very few others reaching this level.

Developer Rockstar Games set a high bar for this series with their last release, and we have long wondered if they would be able to get anywhere near it with Red Dead Redemption 2. Well, pardner, they not only got near it, but raised it a few more notches as well.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is clearly a Game of the Year front runner.

10

Red Dead Redemption 2 review code provided by publisher. For more information on scoring, please read What our review scores really mean.

The post Red Dead Redemption 2 Review – Making Outlaws Great Again appeared first on Terminal Gamer - Gaming is our Passion | PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, WiiU.

We have spent the last week traipsing around the apocalyptic world of Ubisoft’s Far Cry New Dawn. The question is, should you prepare for this apocalyptic journey as well.

Read our review to find out

When we last visited Hope County in the world of Far Cry 5, preppers were everywhere and the bad guys were pretty much gone. A few years later, nuclear war breaks out and the world is in chaos. The preppers were ready and head down into their bunkers, ready to ride out the death and destruction that they prepared for. Years pass and they emerge into this new world, ready to rebuild society and create a place for their children to live. Of course there are always those that don’t want to actually work for their survival, and use their strength and weaponry to take what others have created. These are the Highwaymen, and they are Far Cry New Dawn‘s bad guys.

Hopeless County

We enter this world 17 years after the apocalypse, and it is up to us to help defeat the Highwaymen and their leaders, a sadistic and formidable set of twins that take what they want with force. The twins are daughters of a violent past that is told through only a few short cut scenes, but these few scenes are enough to show us how they turned into these violent women. They arte strong and were taught that the strong can rule the weak and take what others have worked for, with no regards for human life. They are a pair of villains raised and reared just for the apocalypse, and they are a pair of tough adversaries.

The story for Far Cry New Dawn is well written, and told through not only cut scenes but also notes, letters, and diary entries found throughout the open world and within the unique Expeditions. You could just play through the game and ignore these items and still have a good story, but these items are worth the time to stop and read and add a depth you might not expect. There are some that tie back into Far Cry 5, so make sure you keep an eye out for them as there are quite a few lying all over the place with some adding a nice touch of humor in a rather vicious and deadly world.

Prospering in Prosperity

Game play is centered around building up your home base, named Prosperity, in order to build better weapons, vehicles, and have better folks or animals to help you in a battle. For those returning to the franchise from Far Cry 5, you’ll feel right at home with the mechanics of the game, and for those of you new to the series, the game is easy to pick up and play. Once you’ve reached the Elite level of weapons, you’ll be able to start upgrading these with crafting material. The game has a bit of an RPG feel to it and that’s not a bad thing. Upgrade material is found everywhere and maps for these items can be purchased using ethanol, which is also fairly easy to obtain. These maps also give you plenty of fast travel points for easy navigation around the vast open world, so unlocking at least a couple of these maps can aid you on your journey.

Another point for fast travel are outposts, once you’ve captured them. These outposts are also a great way to earn ethanol, as you can scavenge them them and allow the highwaymen to come and take it back. Once you do that, you can then proceed to capture it again, with the difficulty level increasing from a I to a III, with each successful recapture earning you more and more material. Capture it three times and it becomes liberated, but locks in at a Level III difficulty. As long as you have it captured, you can fast travel to it and have access to a garage or boat dock, along with a work bench for crafting weapons, ammo, and turning in any items you have found along your journey.

Help is almost always just a radio call away

As you progress through the story missions, you’ll unlock different specialists needed to help out around camp, as well as assist you in your journeys as a Gun For Hire. These specialists are perfect for those that want to play the game in solo mode and each one has their own skillset. There’s a sniper, a berserker, a heavy machine gunner, a rocket launcher dude, a stealth master, your trusty attack dog, and then there’s Horatio, the awesome attack boar. Depending on what kind of help you need, should determine which one of these folks you call upon. You can switch out at almost anytime, with the exception of Expeditions, so trial and error comes in handy.

Each one of these folks also improve their own abilities as they rack up their own personal kill count, so be sure to give them all plenty of work. Personally Timber is my ride-or-die since he not only is an excellent weapon, he can also highlight those much needed resources and bad guys. You can command your specialist to attack bad guys for you, and Timber seems the best for this. He can single-pawedly capture an outpost, with you just pointing at the bad guys to take out. Now that’s a good boy.

Alcatraz looks like a Beautiful Hell

Expeditions become available once you’ve upgraded Prosperity and Roger Cadoret’s chopper. These are 7 unique locations that are outside of the main game world and are in places like Florida, Louisiana, and Alcatraz, to name a few. Your goal is to find a marked back pack, travel to an extraction point, and then survive until Roger returns with the chopper. These places are jam packed with resources and can earn you some much needed material in order to craft Elite weapons. You can also find a special outfit and easter egg from Splinter Cell‘s Sam Fisher awaiting you, if you can unlock the mystery to its location.

You can bring one of your specialists with you, but they have to already be called before you launch an expedition and can’t be brought back from the dead if they die within the expedition. They can only be revived if you fail, or once you completed the expedition and return back to Prosperity. Expedition difficulty goes up automatically as you successfully complete them, and just like outposts they go from Level I to Level III, with Level III expeditions becoming more random as far as where the item you have to extract is placed. Each Expedition is its own game world, so the developer was able to pack in a large quantity of bad guys for you to kill and be attacked by, and create a large area for you to explore and hunt in.

A World of Things to Do and See

The game world is very much alive with plants and animals galore. It’s a colorful place one wouldn’t expect to find in a post apocalyptic landscape. Some time has passed since the bombs dropped, so some color should be expected. Some plants have medicinal value and can be picked and stored for later use. You can create medicine packs once you have enough materials, so keep an eye out for those plants with a visible shimmer, as they only take a second or so to pick, and can be found just about everywhere in the world.

Animals can also be found all over the place, and there are some that are huge. The Monstrous animals are much harder to take down and have glowing red spots that are their weak points. these animals are worth more and can be used to craft Elite weapons and vehicles, so taking them down is worth the effort. There are plenty of smaller animals for you to hunt and how you kill them will determine how much material you obtain from them. using a bow is generally the best way to insure maximum quantities, but throwing knives work as well. Taking out a small rabbit with a .50 cal handgun isn’t going to leave much for you to harvest, but it does the job.

Perks for your Character

More RPG like elements can be found the game’s Perk system. These are items and traits that are unlocked through perk points that can be earned by completing tasks within the game, like capturing outposts, completing expeditions, and saving hostages. These perks include a grappling hook, a wingsuit, fishing improvements, and the ability to fix or sabotage a vehicle, to name a few. Some of the traits are stackable, so just unlocking one doesn’t mean you are done with it. You can keep stacking the light ammo perk to keep increasing how much ammo you can carry for weapons, giving you more and more ammo capability. You can also stack the medkit perk giving you a crazy amount of health available, as well as the throwable perk giving you more and more Molotov cocktails and grenades to chunk.

Limited co-op Saving

The one main gripe for the game has to be the fact that when playing co-op, only the host’s gameplay is saved. While resources can be earned for non-hosts, if you and a buddy want to play the game start-to-finish, you’ll have to play through it twice in order to give each player credit for all of the missions, with each player taking turns hosting. This includes capturing outposts and even completing expeditions. While the game is fun to play, having to do everything twice can become very repetitious. Games like Ghost Recon Wildlands don’t have these limitations, so it’s disappointing to find that here. While this shouldn’t be something to turn you away from a great game, it is something you should be aware of if you are planning on playing some co-op missions.

Ubisoft’s Far Cry New Dawn is a gorgeous game with a colorful world that is full of many things to see and do. The story is well written, with a cinematic feel at times, with one scene reminiscent of Martin Sheen’s epic journey up the Nung River in Coppola’s Apocalypse Now.

Priced at only $39.99 in the US, the return to Hope County is well worth its price tag. Don’t hesitate to see what a post apocalyptic world may look like, and do your part to insure the bad guys don’t prevail.

8

Far Cry New Dawn review code provided by publisher. For more information on scoring, please read What our review scores really mean.

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