Dishonored Review

Available for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC

Take one part steampunk, one part first person shooter, one part stealth games,  add a dash of magic powers, blend lightly while stirring in a good story and you have a recipe for a great game.  Dishonored is the newest project from Bethesda and it's a pretty sweet game.  You assume the role of Corvo, the royal bodyguard to the Empress.  When she's attacked and murdered you are framed as her killer and the kidnapper of her daughter Emily and get locked away. While in prison you receive a note telling you how to escape and meet with a group of Loyalists to the Empress who want to help you get revenge on whoever dishonored you and get your life back on track.

You get to encounter a mystic being known as the Outsider who grants you access to some powers.  Now with your new-found profession as an assassin, you can choose to be really stealthy, and never let anyone know you're there or go in with guns blazing. Or if you prefer, crossbows. Or grenades.  You can choose to kill everyone in your path or kill nobody.  Every mission has options for stealth, and non-lethal means so you can choose to be a ghost and never let anyone see you, if that's more your playstyle.  If you've ever played Thief or Metal Gear Solid, it's kinda like that.  Some of the powers you have access to are short distance, line-of-sight teleportation,  the ability to possess animals or humans to sneak around, slow or stop time,  or turn bodies to ash if they don't see you kill them.  There are plenty of other abilities but I don't want to ruin any surprises.

The missions are very open in how you deal with them.  You're given a primary objective or target such as assassinating someone as well as optional side missions which may be finding something, other assassinations, or helping someone.  How you choose to complete the mission is up to you. For example I played the game stealthy, and if I did get caught I used non-lethal means to take care of people. My friend on the other hand kicked in the door, announced his presence, and took out anyone who had a problem with it. If you're supposed to kill someone, do you want to sneak in, abduct them, and kill them later?  Maybe shoot em with your crossbow so no one knows you were there? Poison their drink? Hide under the table for an ambush?  Just make sure you eliminate your target however you want to do it. The game also offers multiple paths to travel along.  Take  the road, climb up boxes and crates, jump from rooftop to rooftop, possess a rat and crawl through tunnels, or possess a fish and swim through sewers.  Climb into windows, scale walls the possibilities are near endless.

One of the biggest downsides to this game is that it's mission format instead of open world.  You have a hub location you start at, where you can talk to people, rest, buy upgrades, etc.  When you're ready to head out, you leave for a mission.  After the mission is over and you're ready to leave, you head back to the hub again.  If this game was open world it would have been near flawless.  The mission system really detracts from the game in my opinion. It's still good, but it could've been better.  Another downside is the campaign of the game is actually fairly short.  There is about 6-8 hours of gameplay if you just play straight through the campaign without worrying about collectibles and the like.  If you play it stealthy, the game does take longer because you have to wait for guards to walk their posts, and sneak up on people.

Speaking of collectibles, the game has a slew of things to look for during your missions.  Collecting runes will allow you to buy and upgrade more powers, finding bone charms that you can wear will grant you additional abilities or perks such as walking quieter, increased health, etc.  Many levels also have collectible paintings you can find, which are needed to unlock trophies/achievements in the game.  If you play through one level and do it stealthy, maybe you want to go back through and play it chaotic.

Combining powers to achieve goals in levels is a really cool way to replay levels. Possess a guard, sneak past the other guards, then exorcise yourself to kill your target. Someone threw a grenade near you?  Stop time, possess someone, and switch places with them. When time unfreezes, they die by their own grenade.  Teleport to someone and choke them to sleep. Your imagination is the limit.

***Synopsis***
Dishonored is an awesome game combining elements of stealth and first person shooters.  They have allowed a lot of creativity in achieving your goals, but not as much freedom in your environment or exploration. You can choose to be stealthy or bold.  Assassinate everyone in your path and leave no survivors, or put guards and civilians to sleep. Use your sword and skills, or conjure magic abilities.  Take back the life they stole from you, one target at a time.


Gameplay: 8.5 - Fast paced action, lots of conflict, supernatural powers. Stealth or slayer, take your pick.  The game offers a lot of freedom on how to accomplish your missions and lets you combine your abilities in creative ways.

Graphics/Presentation: 8.5 - The general presentation is done well, the overall atmosphere is somewhat colonial, but with technology that's more modern or even futuristic.  Walls of invisible electricity seem to fit in place right along with gunpowder loaded pistols and swords. Lighting is beautifully used with streetlights, and shadows for cover.

Story: 7.0 -The story feels predictable at some points, and didn't hold very many surprises.  It's a nice tale of  revenge but it's kind of dry overall. Just go to a new location, find your target, eliminate them. There are one or two twists, but overall it's the same formula.

Sound/Music: 9.0 - The voice acting is superb, sound effects are good.  Music gets intense during some of the bigger fights, along with the ambiance of the environments, it really makes the game feel dark and brooding.

Replay Value: 6.0 - One of the game's weak points is that the campaign is very short and there's not much to keep you coming back.  There are collectibles in every level, but it doesn't take much to get them on your first playthrough.  The most replay value comes in trying out new ways to use your abilities, and different styles of finishing your missions. There are tons of trophies too, but I'll warn you...most of them are rewards for being very stealthy and non-lethal.

Overall Score:  38.5/50

Have you played Dishonored? Do you agree with my review?  What are some of your creative kills?  Contact me for all your gaming needs!

The Walking Dead Game Review

Episodes 1 through 4 available on Playstation
Network, Xbox Live Marketplace, and PC

Everyone loves zombies, this is just fact. Zombies have appeared in many media outlets like movies, television shows, video games, books, etc., and an apocalypse of the undead is the most likely scenario for the end of the world according to many people. There's just something about flesh-eating humanoid figures that's scary, funny and cool.  The Walking Dead was originally a graphic novel before it premiered on AMC where it initially only had six episodes but has since turned into one of the biggest franchises on television. So when I heard TellTale Games was making a Walking Dead game, I was a little skeptical but my fears were soon destroyed as I dove into the interactive world full of walkers.

The Walking Dead Game takes place before the events of the show, and the visuals are based on the graphic novel. It looks like the comic has been brought to life in beautiful cel-shaded graphics, with character emotions and a fully voiced cast. The game has been separated into episodes, five in total, for roughly $5 a piece, or if purchased on most outlets like the Playstation Network or Xbox Live Marketplace there is a package available to purchase all five episodes ahead of time for a discounted price and each will be available to download as they are released monthly.  I did the latter option and it was the best $20 I've ever spent (saving me $1 on each episode.)

You control Lee Everett, an ex-convict who suddenly finds himself thrust into a world gone to hell where the dead walk the earth. He discovers a young girl surviving on her own and he decides to watch after her to ensure her safety. As they travel to find safety they meet other survivors and plenty of non-survivors. The episodes are each about 2-3 hours long and I guarantee you will make some level of emotional investment in the story.  You will care about the characters and the story, you will think about your decisions rationally and how it will affect your story. Everything you do will be to protect the people you care about or to punish characters you dislike. The game is a sort of exploration with point and click aspects similar to Heavy Rain. You move around environments but you can interact with other characters and certain preset environments and objects and when certain things are examined, or you've completed a task the story will progress.

Another aspect of gameplay is decision making.  Many characters will engage you in conversation and you will have a limited time to choose your reply. The things you say can affect how a character thinks of you, and also change how you act around others.  If you tell someone a lie, you need to remember what you told them because it could come up later.  Also the decisions you make in each episode will carry on to the next episode. If you stick up for a character, they'll remember your loyalty later on.  If you screw someone over, they're gonna remember that too.

In general the game's downsides aren't many but for a maximum of $5 each the flaws can be overlooked. Things like loading times between scenes while the autosave occurs, or small pauses in video are a small nuisance that remind you you're playing a game, which is unfortunate because you really get drawn into the environment and if it weren't for those subtle reminders it would be a great interactive experience that lets you feel like you're a part of the action. Some of the situations in the game are frustrating because you know what you want the end result to be, but you have to make the right in-game decisions in sequential order, to get the characters to do what you want. There also aren't in-game hints to help you when you're stuck. But for such a low price, I promise this game will keep you entertained.

Since this is set up in five episodes, I won't review it like a normal game but I'll just give a brief summary of each episode so far with a score of up to 5 for each episode.

Episode 1:  A New Day
The first episode in the series introduces us to our protagonist Lee and Clementine, a young girl left alone in the zombie apocalypse that Lee now looks after. You're first introduced to the concept of "walkers" and you will meet a group of survivors just trying to get by in a world gone mad.  This episode introduces you to the mechanics of the game, including conversational decision making, action sequences, and exploration. It has some slow moments, and the midway goals are frustrating to achieve because you know what you WANT to do but the game just wont let you until you do it their way. Some sections of this episode are a little laggy but overall doesn't take away from the experience.
[4/5]

Episode 2: Starved For Help
The survivors turn a motel into a makeshift fortress as a place to lay low for a while. Three months after the events of the first game, supplies and food are running low, the group is hungry and you have to make decisions on who gets to eat and who doesn't.  Who's more important to you? who needs their strength?  The survivors meet a couple of people from a nearby dairy and are willing to work with your group to help you get supplies and they invite you out to check out their place. There's also a group of bandits out in the woods who are stalking your group and harassing you and the people at the dairy seem to know about them. But these nice dairy farmers may have a few secrets... Most of the bugs seem to have been worked on in this game, and I don't recall seeing many long load times or screen glitches.
[5/5]

Episode 3: Long Road Ahead
This episode is probably my favorite so far because it really pushes your emotional choices.  You have to make some SERIOUSLY messed up decisions in this episode.  Someone at the motor inn is sneaking supplies to the bandits and its threatening the group. After some unfortunate circumstances, the group has to leave their safe haven at the motor inn, and find an abandoned train. The plan is to get it working and head for the coast. Surely there won't be any difficulties, right?
[5/5]

Episode 4: Around Every Corner
The group makes it to a city, and find themselves outnumbered by walkers. They find temporary shelter, and while scavenging for supplies and a boat, they encounter another group of survivors. Everyone works together to formulate an actual escape plan, and set out to gather supplies from a nearby community. The community is extremely dangerous and tensions within the group are already high due to some previous altercations.  This episode is unique in the sense that you have multiple decisions that will actually affect the number of people in your group, which is a very interesting concept.  The graphics in this one seem somewhat upgraded, and this is also the longest episode yet.
[5/5]

Episode 5: No Time Left
The end of Episode 4 left us with some very interesting questions about what's going to happen next, and Episode 5 does not disappoint. I did not physically time it but it felt like this episode was shorter than the others by a small margin. This is probably because you're so enveloped in the action. It's kind of hard for me to summarize this episode without spoilers but if you've played the first four episodes, there's no way you're going to miss this exciting, emotion-filled conclusion.
[5/5]

***Synopsis***
My reviews on these games may seem really high, but I promise it's for a good reason.  At the time of writing, four of the episodes are released, and I'll review the final episode when it comes out.

The Walking Dead game is an extremely good value and a wonderfully done game. Any fans of the series, or of zombies in general should definitely check this out!


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Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward Review

Available for the 3DS, and Playstation Vita

Many people haven't heard of 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors and that's really unfortunate. Luckily anyone who knows me or read my Top 10 Best Games You've Probably Never Played article knows that I absolutely adore the game. Virtue's Last Reward is the sequel to this great sleeper hit and with a gripping story and unique puzzles, it lives up to its predecessor in many ways. 999 will retroactively be considered part of the "Zero Escape" series along with any future games with Virtue's Last Reward being the second entry in the franchise.

The first thing I always make sure to tell people about these games is that they are VERY text-heavy, story based games.  If you don't like reading, or don't feel like going through a lot of story before you get to gameplay, this isn't the game for you.  But if you're still interested after my warnings, then you're in for an awesome story.  In a Saw-esque fashion, nine people wake up in a strange building with faint, blurred memories of being abducted. Some of them seem to know each other or are at least connected somehow, but no one trusts each other enough to open up to anyone else. They are thrown into a twisted game of trust and betrayal known as the Nonary Game: Ambidex Edition. Everyone is equipped with a bracelet showing three points, and as the story progresses you will have multiple chances to ally with or betray the other characters and they will have the same opportunities against you, and depending on how you vote you can earn or lose points.  If you break any of the rules of the game or your points drop to zero, your character dies. If anyone (or everyone) reaches nine points they can escape the game.

The game is primarily divided into two segments, Novel and Escape.  The Novel segments progress the story and as a major upgrade from the previous game, VLR's Novel portions are done with a full cast of voice actors in English or Japanese and 3D character models that are animated.  Every character has a distinct personality, from the douchebag dressed up like a magician, to a very polite gentleman in what appears to be mechanical armor, to the mysterious woman barely clad in anything. The rules of the game are explained to the players by their host, a CGI rabbit named Zero III. He's like a mixture of Kathy Griffin, Elmyra from Tiny Toons, and the Genie from Aladdin all balled up into a cute little psychotic, bipolar bunny body. Seriously, this guy's nuts. After a stretch of Novel progression, the Escape portions are where the gameplay comes in. You get stuck in locked rooms and you must use point and click movements to examine the room, check for clues, solve puzzles and play mini games. When you succeed, you'll find an exit to the room and progress the story through more Novel segments.

The puzzles in this game are fairly challenging.  Some may be easy or obvious, but others will really make you think and give you a serious sense of accomplishment when you get through them. I actually fist pumped when I solved a few. Some are just stupidly frustrating.  The game does provide you with an in-game memo feature that you can use to draw or write clues to help yourself figure things out. If puzzles get too difficult, there's also an easy mode you can switch to for that room and get more hints. The Escape rooms will also group you with other characters and you may get some extra tidbits about their back stories or find out information about the game from them. You may learn how one character is connected to another, or maybe get a brief lesson in quantum theory. Who knows?

Virtue's Last Reward has a TON of replayablity because every time you make a decision in the story it causes a branch in the flow chart.  You can choose from three different doors?  That's three different story paths. Down one path, you chose to betray someone?  You can go back to that point later and choose to ally with them instead. In all, the game provides a whopping 24 endings to earn, consisting of nine "game over" endings, nine "actual" endings, and six "to be continued" endings which require you to get more information from elsewhere in the story.  Conveniently enough, Virtue's Last Reward has a flow chart showing where you are in the story, and allows you to go back to previous segments to try other parts in the story and get new information. After a weekend of non-stop playing this game (including 14 hours in a car, and a day and a half in a hotel room) I've logged 16 hours of gameplay and I have roughly half the available endings and the best part is I'm not bored yet.. The cool thing is, anytime you reach text you've already read you're able to fast forward through it until you reach something you haven't read. Another feature that adds to the replayability is that every level requires you to find a password to escape, but there's also a secret password hidden in the room that will earn you a special file containing extra information about the game.  These files aren't required to progress the story, but a true completionist won't pass them up.  If you find the 2nd password while on easy mode, you'll receive a file with five pieces of information, but if you complete the room on hard mode (as you should!) then the file will have eight pieces of information for you.

***Synopsis***
Overall, Virtue's Last Reward is exactly what I was hoping for: a game with an awesome story, intense puzzles, and lots of replayability.  In 999 you had to do a lot of reading, and in this game there's a lot of story but if you don't want to READ everything, you could just listen to the characters. Be aware there is no voice for your character so you'll still need to read that. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, the beginning of the game is like 45 minutes of story before you get to your second puzzle so be aware that while this game is awesome, you better be prepared for a lot of story. But when you DO get gameplay, the puzzles are pretty fantastic.



Gameplay: 6.0 - The puzzles are great. Most are a nice difficulty with a balance of challenge while still giving you a rewarding feeling. However some puzzles are extremely difficult or tedious for seemingly no reason. Also since this is a story-driven game, gameplay elements are fewer than most games.

Graphics/Presentation: 9.0 - 3D character models is a nice step up, even though each has a preset number of animations, reactions and poses. The 3D graphics are used to give depth to the environments, altho not necessary. Some scenes are actually presented animated in video CGI. Very simple layouts for both button controls or touch screen.

Story: 10 - The game is BASED on a good story. This feels more like you're reading a virtual book than playing a game. There are a lot of plot twists, various endings, and shocking moments.  Each story path you choose gives you a new outlook on some of the characters' personalities and it's kinda fun finding the endings that aren't the "true" ending.

Sound/Music: 9.0 - Full cast of voice actors really lends to make this game better. Zero III is one of the most interesting characters I've encountered in a long time, and everyone's personality really shines more through their voice actor.  The music offers creepy undertones to lend to tense situations, and simple rhythmic music during puzzle solving.

Replay Value: 9.0 - The game has 24 endings to unlock, and a diversely branching story tree. Every room has an extra password to find, on easy or hard modes.  This game will ensure a lot of long nights and plenty of hours logged before you complete everything.

Overall Score:  43/50