REVIEW / Elite Dangerous (PS4)

 

If you hadn’t noticed, the space sim from developers Frontier Developments, Elite Dangerous, has finally released on the PS4, almost three years after it launched on PC.  Boasting that it offers, “400 Billion star systems and an ever-evolving narrative,” you can experience all that this game has to offer either alone or in a very robust multiplayer environment.  As a starship Commander, you take control of your own starship and can fight, explore and travel throughout an expansive cutthroat galaxy.  Keeping your ship upgraded with the best weapons and equipment is paramount as you explore the galaxy, fight off pirates and smuggle, trade and mine your way to prosperity.  You have to do whatever it takes to earn the skill, knowledge, wealth and power to stand among the ranks of the Elite.

 

 

Back on Jan 9, 2015, my esteemed colleague Nick Christophi wrote a review for the PC version of the Elite Dangerous.  If you want to read his take on how the game panned out back then, you can read his review here.  Nick scored the game a 7.0/10 and I have to agree with him on that.  While there are some improvements to gameplay on the PS4, this version of the game is basically the same game that Nick reviewed so I stand by his score.  For this review, I just wanted to highlight the features and issues that stood out to me.

 

 

The first thing that I immediately noticed about the game is that it has an incredibly steep learning curve.  It took me going through the tutorial lessons multiple times because I just couldn’t wrap my head around how the game worked.  There were just a few tutorials and some tutorial videos that you could watch but I felt that there should have been more to flesh out the nuances of the basic game procedures a little bit more.  There wasn’t a lot of guidance once I got through that beginning training, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  If you don’t like a lot of hand-holding, this is the game for you because it is up to you to blaze your own trail right out of the starport.

 

 

One of the issues with the game that Nick pointed out that resonated with me was the fact that he though that flying around the galaxy felt lifeless and lonely.  I have to say that as I began playing, I had that same feeling, however as I got into getting from place to place, the galaxy started to fill out a little more and there weren’t too many long stretches of time where I felt like I hadn’t seen another soul for a long time.  I think that is obviously due to the fact that more people have had a chance to pick up the game as well as the fact that there has essentially been updates to missions and activities to make them a more polished and accessible experience.  Whatever the case may be, there is a good balance between the times where you are alone and the times where you will encounter other players.  Sometimes you just want to pillage an outpost without the prying eyes of look-ee-loos.

 

 

There are a few performance issues that this game has on the PS4 such as how the framerate will drop when you come out of hyperspace or if you are trying to drop off your wares at a particularly busy space station.  That is something that a future update can remedy so it isn’t a deal breaker.  One other thing that stood out to me is how intricately detailed the inside of your ships cockpits are.  Being that you spend a lot of time looking at the HUD, it goes to reason that Frontier would ensure that this was something special to look at.  Just one look is enough to see that the developer has put in a lot of time perfecting even the smallest detail.

 

 

The freedom of exploration and the vast area that you have to explore is what Elite Dangerous is all about.  If you don’t want to explore new galaxies and share your findings with other players, you can engage in trading and grow your bank account or you can get into pirating and just take what you want from unsuspecting traders.  The choice is up to you.  If you want to do a little of all of those activities, the game doesn’t punish you for switching it up every once in a while.  This game offers the freedom to go anywhere and do anything that most games that make this claim just don’t quite live up to.

 

 

 

This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.

The post REVIEW / Elite Dangerous (PS4) appeared first on That VideoGame Blog.

from That VideoGame Blog http://ift.tt/2vbpS3I

PS Plus games for August are kind of a big deal

 

One of the few perks of having to pay for a subscription to Sony’s PlayStation Network (yes, I’m bitter: long time PlayStation owner here) is that each month, your PS Plus membership yields some hard-earned freebies. Mostly, these are titles from smaller developers, but before you scoff: Psyonix’s instant mega-hit Rocket League was one of the first to be offered for free, and heck, look where that ended up.

Gratuitous picture of my favourite competitive game inbound…

Last month on PS4, we received SuperMassive Games’ creepy horror survival game, Until Dawn, as well as Telltale’s Game of Thrones series – as if you needed any more GoT in your life. The PS3 offerings were Tokyo Jungle and Darkstalkers Resurrection, and the Vita got Elemental and Don’t Die, Mr Robot; these freebies are still available until midnight on July 31st, so if you missed them, there might still be time, depending on when this is published…

Ahhh! It’s hideous!

Anyway. Things have taken a surprising turn this month, as the indie developers are somewhat overshadowed by the addition to two relatively titanic titles to the list of PlayStation Plus freebies for August 2017.

First up, we’ve got Ubisoft’s surplus-to-requirements spin-off to 2013’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, more commonly known as everyone’s favourite pirate simulator. Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry tells the swashbuckling tale of Edward Kenway’s second-in-command, Adewale, as he navigates the waters of emancipation in the aftermath of Kenway’s return to England. Filling the gap in the timeline between Black Flag and Rogue, if you’re bored waiting for Origins to drop this October – as I am – Freedom Cry might be a good way to pass the time.

Yeah. I’d look that miserable too, in that weather.

Next on the list is the most substantial triple-A title I’ve seen on the PS Plus freebies list since maybe, like, forever. It’s Square Enix’s Just ‘Cause, Explosions— Sorry. I meant, Just Cause 3. Rico Rodriguez has returned home, to find the sunny, geographically ambiguous Archipelago of Medici under the oppressive leadership of a fascist regime, and we all know what that means: grab your RPGs, folks, because this could be the most violently volatile Just Cause yet (N.b. I’ve played this one, and can confirm the accuracy of my own statement).

Do the civilians lie awake at night, flinching at every distant explosion?

By all standards, that’s a pretty good haul, I hear you think, and I agree. But wait… there’s more. Also up for grabs for PS Plus members on PS3 is Super Motherload, a multiplayer digging adventure game created by XGen Studios; on top of that, you’ve got Snakeball, a 3D remake of the classic videogame Snake. On the PS Vita, you’ll be able to download both Downwell  (which has cross-buy with the PS4) and Level 22, both of which share a retro art style and the promise of surprising procrastination potential.

Looks like the sort of frantic gameplay that could ruin friendships.

These PlayStation Plus freebies will drop August 1st: get them on the PS store, for free (duh). For more information, check out the blog page here.

The post PS Plus games for August are kind of a big deal appeared first on That VideoGame Blog.

from That VideoGame Blog http://ift.tt/2vaYcvA

PREVIEW / Beat the Game (PC)

In 5 minutes, Beat the Game had managed to convince me that my morning coffee had been inadvertently laced with LSD. By the 10 minute mark, Beat the Game had tapped previously defunct areas of my brain, and had begun to poke them with a sledgehammer. Within a mere 15 minutes of gameplay, Beat the Game had reduced me to a senseless wreck, able only to nod my head in time to a pulsating, electro-new-wave-synth rhythm.

 

 

I may be exaggerating a little, but I do suspect that the creators of Beat the Game – the San Francisco-based Worm Animation – suffer from severe hallucinatory episodes; I highly doubt that imagination alone concocted such absurdity. Offering little by way of narrative exposition, I was dumped straight into the perspective of an unnamed biker, drawn and animated as though he were an extra in The Nightmare Before Christmas. Dressed in prison stripes and a tight bodysuit with matching cowl, he rode some sort of hover-bike until he didn’t, crashing into a vending machine half buried in the moonlit desert. Then he kicked the machine… and there was carbon dioxide soda… floating eyes with wings… the biker sits in a chair… but suddenly, TREE ROOTS! After some hours sleep, underground… boy in striped pyjamas makes the surface…  and then music.

 

 

Suffice it to say, until instructions begin to appear on your screen (and for some time after), Beat the Game makes zero sense. Once the prologue is out of the way, however, and you’ve reached the first open area, a terrifying voice commands you to collect sounds. And thus, you begin sampling your environment and using the portable mixing deck to create the sickest beats this side of the new millennium. Don’t ask me why. I’ll never tell.

 

 

What I can say, though, as a musician with a creative streak, is that Beat the Game doesn’t need a reason to drop a filthy bass-line. You’ll soon forget the dodgy narrative, the painful camera functionality, and the lack of attention to syntax (a pet peeve, nothing more), because you’ll be mixing that unwashed kick drum with synthetic waves, artificial hi-hats, and whatever else you can get your audio sampler mitts on. You don’t even need a musical ear: the mixer does the hard work, so all you really need to do is keep selecting and deselecting samples until you find a rhythm that takes your fancy.

 

 

The time I spent with Beat the Game was very limited, but it takes mere moments to respond to the quality of the graphics, or the intuitiveness of the UI. Beat the Game did not leave me wanting in any respect other than wanting to play a little more: if you’ve watched the trailer, you’ll see that the oddity soars to new heights as the game progresses. Perform your favorite composition to the crowd in lieu of a boss-fight – if they like it, you’ll progress to the next world. Scour the world with a rolling robot that I hope makes full use of the game’s intriguing open level design; plod about as the anonymous musician (edit: he’s called Mystik, but you’re never actually told that), using either keyboard or controller, and sample anything that moves.

 

 

It’s crazy, but it works. With music from house producer Marc Houle, Beat the Game is a nonsensical, aural, point-and-click journey into one of the more imaginative environments I’ve ever had the pleasure to virtually explore. The cutscene animations are strong, and the music, grungy; Beat the Game is, in the words of founder Cemre Ozkurt, giving you every opportunity to flex your compositional muscles. Make music, Yo.

Beat the Game is scheduled for release in early 2017 (note to devs: we’re approaching late 2017, folks), and will be available on Xbox One, PC, Mac and Linux.

 

 

 

This preview is based on an early access copy of the game provided by the publisher.

The post PREVIEW / Beat the Game (PC) appeared first on That VideoGame Blog.

from That VideoGame Blog http://ift.tt/2v9NF40

Crisis Action VR launches on Steam VR

 

As you all probably know by now, I’m TVGB’s VR nut. I think this is probably because I’m not here most of the time and being given a valid excuse to actually be elsewhere is just awesome. What’s this got to do with anything? Well, being said VR nut, I’m obviously going to be bringing you VR news whenever I can. So let’s get on to this little order of business – Crisis Action VR, a survival horror FPS by Pixel Wonder, is now available on Steam VR.

The title will offer support for the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and of course the keyboard and mouse. This will let you get some killing done in the fashion most comfortable to you.

The addition of this title to the library is great for two reasons. All of us VR fans will have something new to sink our teeth into which is of course brilliant but this is definitely one for survival horror enthusiasts as well. We aren’t just talking another zombie slay-fest, we’ve all done that before. This is a game that is said to really build suspense and make fear palpable. If this is the case this is something that is going to lend itself massively well to VR.

So what can we expect from the game then? Crisis Action VR offers a bunch of different game modes and is aiming to appeal to everyone. If you want to go on a zombie killing spree with a maximum of four of your mates, you can. The game’s versus mode offers player versus bot battles. Of course, if you want to kill your mates well there’s player versus player too.

There’s plenty here for solo gamers as well. Story mode invites you into a world on the brink of total zombie apocalypse. You will find yourself trying to find the cause of the epidemic, while fighting off waves of the undead in an attempt to get out alive. The game offers a variety of scenarios and story lines that will test more skills than just basic zombie slaying.

Now let’s remember that this is VR so you can expect and enhanced sense of action. Crisis Action VR is really going to be getting the adrenaline pumping. You already have the heart wrenching, pulse pounding, feeling that comes from getting out of a totally lethal situation alive. If you add in the pure unadulterated fear factor of waiting for that elevator door to slowly open, or investigating a creepy office for clues knowing that there is a horde of vicious undead not to far away you’re going to be getting an awesome mix of thrills and chills.

You can play to your own style with Crisis Action VR. The game offers you a wide variety of weapons. You will find many of your FPS favourites but for players that like to get up close and personal there are a range of melee options for you to choose from as well.

All in all this looks massively interesting. So many of you just need to be scared. This game may well accommodate that urge. At the very least Steam VR fans will have something a little bit different to throw themselves into.

 

 

The post Crisis Action VR launches on Steam VR appeared first on That VideoGame Blog.

from That VideoGame Blog http://ift.tt/2uMkj8Z

Dead by Daylight – A Lullaby for the Dark released

 

Dead by Daylight was released on PC last June to largely positive reviews and high sales. The game pits multiple players in survivor roles (third person perspective) against one player acting as a killer (first person perspective). Lauded for its largely unique contribution to the horror game genre, it eschews jumpscares for mounting tension and creative takes on classic horror tropes. Each survivor and killer character has their own advantages and disadvantages, which can be made more or less effective depending on the map chosen.

Following its release to console earlier this year, developer Starbreeze Studios has released a free-to-download new “chapter”, Lullaby for the Dark, which features a new killer, a new survivor, and a new map.

Although this is the fifth chapter to be released following the original game, the new killer, The Huntress, is particularly notable for being the first of the killers with a ranged attack. It is also hinted that she may have an advantage on the new map, called “Mother’s Dwelling”, which is her home deep in the forest. She also has an ability called “Huntress Lullaby” which makes skill checks more difficult for the survivors and grows in power as more of the survivors are sacrificed. The new survivor, a former rugby player from Manchester, also has some interesting abilities focused on resilience to injuries and gaining bonuses for protecting other survivors.

While the “Mature Gamer take on the thrills of hide and seek” aspect and fairly consistent offerings of new content have kept player interest high over the past year, it would be a mistake to skip over the backstory and bios that the game’s creators have put so much effort into. Most of this lore is found not necessarily in the game, but can be read on the game site here.

Lullaby for the Dark is now available for PC for free via Steam and other digital distribution channels. Learn more at http://ift.tt/2uLBlUR or check out the game on Steam here.

The post Dead by Daylight – A Lullaby for the Dark released appeared first on That VideoGame Blog.

from That VideoGame Blog http://ift.tt/2v6ioir

Bandai Namco reveals Dragon Ball Fighterz closed beta dates

 

 

Bandai Namco originaly anounced at EVO 2017 that the closed beta sign-ups for Dragon Ball FighterZ would begin on July 26^th, 2017.   However, due to the enormous volume of excitement and enthusiasm surrounding this announcement, the publisher has decided to expand the capacity of the Closed Beta in an effort to enable more players to participate in the program.

In addition, the beta organizers are also working to bolster their background systems to ensure that the closed beta registration and selection process can accept the volume of anticipated sign-ups. While that is definitely good news, there is just a little bad news to report.  In order to open the beta for more players, these efforts will necessitate a slight delay for the Closed Beta sign-up date, which will move to August 22^nd, 2017.

As far as when the actual beta will take place, it will happen on September 16^th and 17^th at the following hours:

                                EUROPE (UK) CST

• 1st Session*        10:00am – 13:00pm (Saturday)
• 2nd Session*     18:00pm – 21:00pm (Saturday)
• 3rd Session*      2:00am – 5:00am (Sunday)
• 4th Session*      21:00pm – 00:00am (Sunday/Monday)

*Timings are subject to change.

The developers want the fans that participate to be able to enjoy the game at its best so they are making efforts to include more than the previously announced 9 characters in this Closed Beta, as well as fleshing out a good portion of the Lobby.  As a reminder, the Closed Beta will be available on PS4 and Xbox One consoles only.

The retail version of Dragon Ball FighterZ will be available for the Xbox One, PS4 system, and on PC early next year.

 

 

The post Bandai Namco reveals Dragon Ball Fighterz closed beta dates appeared first on That VideoGame Blog.

from That VideoGame Blog http://ift.tt/2vayGHk

REVIEW / Super Cloudbuilt (PS4)

 

Do you ever wander past groups of kids or sprightly young adults doing parkour in public areas and wonder what it would be like to run along walls and jump insane distances? Well, Super Cloudbuilt has you covered, all from the comfort and safety of your couch. Originally released on PC in 2014 under the name Cloudbuilt, Coilworks and Double Eleven completely remastered the title from the base mechanics up and re-released the game for PS4, Xbox One and PC. Super Cloudbuilt is the definitive edition of the original game and has been designed to make the experience more intuitive to new players while adding increased depth and variation, as well as allowing players the time to explore in between focusing on breakneck speeds and high scores.

 

 

In Super Cloudbuilt, you take control of young soldier Demi, who wakes up in a ruined building, detached from her old life and her physical body. You wander around for a while as a light blue, transparent husk of yourself as you explore the strange new world. Eventually you get a more filled-out form, complete with a rocket-powered exosuit and awesome gun that you can then use to perform incredible feats of free-running and sharp shooting.

After you pass through the opening area, you come to a hospital where you see your physical body lying motionless in a bed. You and Demi come to understand that there has been an accident, and the world that you’re pushing Demi through is a simulation of sorts to occupy and challenge her brain as she recovers. Throughout the hospital are a series of doors with different names and difficulty levels, and following the completion of each level the player learns a little more about what happened to Demi. At the same time, Demi goes through the mental and physical hardship of accepting her new reality as she tries to figure out what happened to get her here in the first place.

 

 

Super Cloudbuilt is all about the gameplay. It’s fast, it’s flashy, it makes you feel cool – exactly what you’d want from a parkour-based game. The controls are simple, although the use of L1 as the jump button and X as the drop/let go of a ledge button handed me quite a few deaths in the first hour of play. However, as with any game with an abnormal control scheme, it’s easy to get used to it. Most of the action is controlled with the trigger and bumper buttons – L1 to jump, L2 to dash and fly with the jetpack, R1 to shoot and R2 to lob sticky grenades. X is used to do your admin stuff (i.e. checking computer terminals and navigating menus) and fall to your death or to a safe location, if you prefer.  

Super Cloudbuilt is all about parkour, so your main methods of getting around are wall running and jumping over long distances. Later, Demi gets upgraded with a jetpack and you can start to do small dashes and giant flying leaps over massive distances. Oftentimes these will be combined with a super speed-inducing slide and that’s…well, that’s just loads of fun. Demi can also hang off ledges and cling to walls like Spiderman and orient herself before launching over to the next destination. However, it’s not all fun and games.

 

 

You have a little yellow meter at the bottom of your screen that shows how much flight/movement power you have left for anything more advanced than basic wall running and jumping. You can pick up little power-ups scattered around the levels to fill the meter in a pinch, or if you’re walking around the meter will quickly refill by itself. However, if you run out of juice midway through a long wall-hopping segment, then you’ll find yourself losing a life.

“Losing a life?” That’s right! You have a finite number of lives to use in each level! Oldschool, right? It puts a necessary limit on how many times you can just fling yourself through a level without thinking about what you’re doing first. If you lose all your lives you’ll be returned to the hospital and will have to start over at the beginning of the level. The game does offer checkpoints intermittently through levels, so if you die midway through you won’t always be sent straight back to the start of the level. You can also hunt around and find manual checkpoints that you can set down yourself. The extra checkpoints are perfect for when you’ve found a really difficult spot and don’t want to keep traipsing all the way back over to it every single time you fail.

 

 

Enemies are typically small robots that fire projectiles at you from afar, or that crawl along the ground towards you to give you a beating close-up. There are also other obstacles you can smack yourself into, such as force fields, mines, and dangerous beams of light. The blue meter at the side of the screen is your health, and there are health pickups throughout the levels to keep you in top form. You can also die by straight up falling into the never-ending abyss below the platforms you’re jumping around on. Dying will take you back to the nearest checkpoint, or to the start of the level if you haven’t hit one yet.

Throughout each level there are also various collectibles to pick up, chief among them being the four metal pieces with “A, B, C, and D” written on them, respectively. If you find all four before exiting a level, you will receive a prize. In fact, at the end of each level there are a series of lockers you can open if you’ve fulfilled various requirements. Some give a permanent upgrade to your number of lives, others give outfit changes for Demi, and there are many more that I haven’t gotten into because they require completing specific challenges. There are a total of 177 challenges between Time Trial, No Ammo, Fragile, Supercharge, Beacon, and Pathfinder options. While I was playing on story mode, there are two other modes: Ranked and Rush.

 

Initially I had some issues adjusting to the weird (to me) placement of the jump/drop buttons, but I never had any issue with the general game mechanics and movement. The gameplay is really easy to pick up, but you have to think closely about what you’re doing or else you’ll soon run out of momentum and find yourself wasting lives by falling down into the abyss. The gameplay feels smooth and not at all laggy, and as I mentioned earlier, it’s downright fun hitting a good stride (or a slide!) and powering through a section of a level at insane speeds. I have but one small, petty niggle about the gameplay and that’s that Demi’s walk cycle looks weird.

Super Cloudbuilt has a really nice cell-shaded aesthetic like you’d see in a Telltale game, although it’s definitely more cartoonish and rough. Both Demi and the environments have this lovely sketchy look about them, like someone decided not to do hard, neat line art before coloring and texturing the environments. Personally, I really like this sort of look and I think it suits the game much better than a really neat and tidy approach would have. Despite the early areas (besides the hospital) being predominantly blocky and grey, between the enemies, pick-ups and obstacles, Super Cloudbuilt still feels like it has a lot of brightness and color.

 

 

Often there’s a lot going on when there are multiple enemies pursuing or shooting at Demi at once, but even in tenser moments I was never blindsided by attacks. All of the animations for projectiles and the like are very clear and easy to see and dodge (or not dodge, whatever, it happens sometimes, or a lot). It’s also very easy to see where your own projectiles are headed, and you don’t have to adjust for angles or the heaviness of the grenade weapon when shooting, it just blobs over to wherever you had pointed the trigger.

Some might argue that this inclusion sucks away realism, but I prefer it – I know I’m playing a game, it doesn’t have to be realistic. I also appreciated that despite all of the high speed dashing around, the game never felt too hard to focus on, nor did it become dizzying or sickening to play over long periods. The sci-fi aesthetic was really appealing, and the neon colors used in some areas of the game would have easily fit into a lovely B-grade 80s sci-fi movie, which in my opinion is a point to its credit. The music isn’t particularly emphasized in Super Cloudbuilt, but it’s appropriately energetic during levels and sombre and thoughtful during hospital segments.

 

 

So, to buy Super Cloudbuilt or not? Honestly, I never would have picked up Super Cloudbuilt based on the cover art or the synopsis. However, I’m really glad that I’ve had the opportunity to give the game a go, because it’s really fun. The asking price (at $19.99 USD on PSN) is reasonable and you’ll get plenty of replay value out of the challenges and leaderboards, in addition to banging your head against engaging puzzles in the main levels. Super Cloudbuilt is a cheap, engaging investment that turns every couch potato into a speed demon and it has my seal of approval!

 

The post REVIEW / Super Cloudbuilt (PS4) appeared first on That VideoGame Blog.

from That VideoGame Blog http://ift.tt/2uZ6Ddc