Mortal Kombat X moves the timeline forward 25 years, giving
the game the opportunity to show older versions of existing fighters as well as
some of their kids. This translates into 24 playable characters, with a decent
split between existing combatants and new ones. Returning characters include
Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Kitana, Kenshi, a gray-haired Liu Kang, Raiden, and more. Eight
characters are new, with four falling on the bad guy end of the spectrum and
four humans that descend from "old" fighters. Those four also figure
heavily into the game's storyline as Cassie Cage, the daughter of Johnny Cage
and Sonya Blade, teams up with Jax's daughter Jacqui, Kenshi's son Takeda, and
a descendant of Kung Lao named Kung Jin to basically save all the realms from
Mortal Kombat 4's end boss, Shinnok, and his right-hand man, Quan Chi.
Mortal Kombat X combines cinematic presentation with all new gameplay to
deliver the most brutal Kombat experience ever, offering a new fully-connected
experience that launches players into a persistent online contest where every
fight matters in a global battle for supremacy. For the first time, Mortal
Kombat X gives players the ability to choose from multiple variations of each
character impacting both strategy and fighting style. Players step into an
original story showcasing some of the game’s most prolific characters including
Scorpion and Sub-Zero, while introducing new challengers that represent the
forces of good and evil and tie the tale together
The finishers in Mortal Kombat X are more gruesome than
ever. On some level that should be an obvious improvement, since this is the
first game in the series to show up on this generation of hardware. But the
developers have really gone the extra mile to make sure most of the fatalities
go "too far" in new ways, from bodies getting ripped in half to faces
being sliced off to reveal a tongue that sits there and twitches until you move
forward to the next screen. The game also has brutalities, which are new--they
aren't just the weird, sped-up dial-a-combo explosions that they were when they
showed up in Mortal Kombat Trilogy.
Mortal Kombat X moves forward with a snappier version of the
previous game's fighting and some cool new characters, but the story and other
features around the edges feel a bit rough in spots.
Race through a wide-open world featuring dramatic weather and day to night
cycles. Connect with friends in this celebration of speed, style, and
action-packed driving. Explore exotic locations in more than 200 of the world’s
greatest cars.
Forza has always been synonymous with sim-oriented racing,
from tuning cars to finding that best line to shave off 1/10th of a second of a
lap of the track. Two years ago
developer Playground Games broke the traditional Forza gameplay model by
introducing open world racing on the Xbox 360.
It was brought to life with the Forza graphics and physics engine. The game was pretty much all I could have
hoped for back then. Fast forward to
present day and Forza Horizon 2 is set to release on the Xbox One. I won’t lie, I have been anticipating this
title for quite some time, as the promise of next-gen hardware combined with
the graphics and car-sim engine from Forza 5, I had high hopes for Playground
Games next Xbox exclusive open world
racer. We here at COG have been playing
an early copy of the final retail code, and after sitting down over the past
week or so I have to say that my expectations were fully met. Just like a Subaru all-wheel drive Impreza
takes off from the line and speeds down the road, nimbly navigating whatever
lies in front of it; Forza Horizon 2 is something you should experience.
Playground games have once again met, and even exceeded, my expectations for Forza Horizon 2. The open world of southern Europe, rain or shine, not only provides a great backdrop, but it is an awesome automotive playground too (did you see what I did there?). With so much in-game content fans will find themselves racing for many days and nights (not just virtual) and the multiplayer modes add even more playtime for fans. If you are an Xbox One owner and looking for a racing game that is an open world, fun, and has a lot of replayability while being both accessible to beginners and a challenge racing veterans given the number of gameplay options, then you really shouldn’t look any further then Forza Horizon 2.
Select and lead a group of characters into harrowing battles
against a myriad of enemies – from earth-shattering High Dragons to demonic
forces from the otherworld of the Fade. Go toe-to-toe in visceral, heroic
combat as your acolytes engage at your side, or switch to tactical view to
coordinate lethal offensives using the combined might of your party. Observe the
tangible, visible results of your journey through a living world – build
structures, customize outposts, and change the landscape itself as environments
are re-honed in the wake of your Inquisition. Helm a party chosen from nine
unique, fully-realized characters – each of whom react to your actions and
choices differently, crafting complex relationships both with you and with each
other. Create your own character from multiple races, customize their
appearance, and amalgamate their powers and abilities as the game progresses.
Enhanced customization options allow you to pick everything from the color of
your follower’s boots to the features of your Inquisition stronghold. Become a
change agent in a time of uncertainty and upheaval. Shape the course of your empires,
bring war or peace to factions in conflict, and drive the ultimate fate of the
Inquisition. Will you bring an end to the cataclysmic anarchy gripping the
Dragon Age?
At the beginning, you create your own hero. You choose the
sex, the race and the class and then customize your appearance. Regardless of
your choices, the story starts the same way for all. You are the sole survivor
of a massive magic explosion that kills the leaders of Templars, Mages and
leader of the Chantry in one fell swoop, while leaving you with a pulsing green
light in your left hand. This light gives you the ability to close the fade
rifts that resulted from the explosion, unleashing demons from the magical
realm into this plane. In response to the political power vacuum left by the
explosion the Inquisition is formed. Even though you are the prime suspect, you
are pressed to help close the rifts that have popped up around the land while
looking for clues to the mystery. Tensions are running high and the undercurrents
of a civil war are bubbling closer to the surface, so in addition to closing
the rifts, you also need to gain support for the Inquisition from the people of
Thetas by completing quests. Sounds simple and like a familiar construct from a
dozen other RPGs, but the scope of the game is massive. Not just the size of
the regions you can explore but in the choices you make in the course of the
game with your party and how you choose to resolve quests. In some cases how
you chose to resolve a quest will have lasting effects leading to alliances
with some while creating enemies by others.
You decide how to proceed with the investigation by choosing
which order you will undertake missions and what areas you will unlock. As you
complete quests, explore new areas, harvest resources and a do a myriad of
other things, you gain power points used to unlock other areas on the map to
explore and “influence,” which allows additional perks for the Inquisition’s
efforts. There is a fast travel option to return to previously explored areas,
which helps with all the exploration you will be doing. However, you will (and
should) make use of it to frequently return to your base of operations to meet
with your advisors in the War Room to advance the plot and make use of the region
map. The map allows you to spend your power points to unlock new areas to quest
in or assign agents to mission which give bonuses, upgrades and provide
resource rewards. My OCD kicked in early on in the game and I was determined to
fully explore the Hinterlands (the starting area) before returning to confer
with my group at the base (So, exploration and going on side-quests constitutes
OCD? Never knew that. – Ed. Vader). This was a bad idea. Even though I was in
the starting zone, the game has purposely been designed as an open world that
has varying levels of difficulty when it comes to enemies. If you want a
smoother flowing experience, it is sometimes necessary to pop out of your
current area and chase down leads or quests in other areas to get gear or level
your team as you can and will blunder into groups of tougher enemies. Nothing
will shake your strategic combat confidence like getting your butt handed to
you in combat by a group of high level demons from Fade rift over and over
again.
Speaking of combat, Inquisition has done a very solid job of
allowing the player to toggle combat to their liking. Not only can you jump
between real-time and strategic combat with the hit of a button, but you can
also take control of any member of your party by clicking their portrait in the
left corner of the screen. While most of the time I played my mage and stayed
in real-time combat mode, I did stop the action and issue commands to the other
members of my team in some challenging encounters. As in earlier Bioware games
you can also customize the behaviors and tactics for the members of the team
when the computer is controlling them if you find the default AI settings are
not quite to your liking. The blood splatters have returned from Dragon Age II.
Hm, doesn’t quite suit my taste. In Inquisition they have been toned down quite
a bit. If you hate them they can be turned off entirely under the options menu.
The game involves players creating and destroying various
types of blocks in a three dimensional environment. The player takes an avatar
that can destroy or create blocks, forming fantastic structures, creations and
artwork across the various multiplayer servers in multiple game modes.
Minecraft one of the most famous indie games of all time? Versatility and
near-infinite replayability. Want to accomplish a series of goals and clear the
final boss? Minecraft has that. Want to explore a series of underground ruins
and caverns, unearthing fabulous treasures? That, too. Want to create a 1:1
scale replica of the battle of Sekigahara using snowmen? Hey, if you have the
time, Minecraft can accommodate you. Now, after a development cycle of over a
year and a half, as well as many patches, the final version of this
long-in-progress phenomenon is finally upon us
It’s difficult writing a review for a game like Skyrim. The extensive
countryside is chock full of dungeons, keeps, bandit camps, and ruins, and each
one has a story behind it. The usual twenty hours or so that I give to a game
review hardly scratches the surface. Even a hundred hours is probably only
approaching halfway through. In my first ten hours I didn’t get onto the
primary plotline at all, choosing instead to do some exploring, play around
with a couple of different character types, pick up some side quests, earn a
little gold and gain some experience. There are dragons loose in the kingdom
and civil war has broken out in Skyrim (you learn that from the opening movie),
but I’ll get to that in good time. Right now I’ve got a really cool flaming
long bow, and I’m dying to find some bandits and try it out. So for those who
want to just get out into the countryside and do some hacking and slashing,
have at it. You can also choose to talk to the world’s hundreds(?) of residents
about themselves and their lives, pick up quest and subquest threads, and
gather pieces of the rich history of this place. To those who have touted the
open sandboxness of other RPGs in the past, pick up a copy of Skyrim and see
what a truly open world looks like. It does make it difficult to figure out
where to even begin a game review though.
For people who have played previous entries in the series, I
can say that the game for the most part structurally is unchanged. The first-
or third-person camera perspective works as it did in Oblivion, and the
exterior activity of traveling around the countryside while nearby structures
appear on your compass is the same. Conversations with NPCs still takes place
using a menu style interface in which you select questions and responses from a
list. Skyrim, the northernmost kingdom in Tamriel, is a cold and rocky and
inhospitable region compared to the rolling, more verdant hills of Cyrodil (the
kingdom in which Oblivion is set), and is positively littered with dungeon-like
structures for you to explore. I think Skyrim is bigger and there is more
stuff, but that’s hard to feel from a gameplayer perspective – both games are
immense. Combat has been changed in that you can wield items in your left and
right hands independently. Sword and shield, sword and spell, mace and dagger,
two different spells, two of the same spell (in which case they reinforce each
other) – go hog wild and see what works for you. The lock-picking minigame is
simpler – yay! Character creation has been distilled to its very essence. You
pick a name and a race, customize your look if you like, and you’re ready to
go. The different races have different career leanings, but you’re never locked
in as a fighter or a thief or a wizard – you get to choose how your character
progresses as you go along. There are only three character stats – health,
stamina, and magicka – and each level you get to increase one of the three. You
also get a skill point which can be spent (or saved for later) among eighteen
skill trees like archery or stealth or destruction magic to gain a particular
buff to that skill (improved stealth, greater damage with bows, etc). The
skills are linked to skill scores in your character, so if you’ve been sneaking
around a lot you should have a very high stealth score, and that allows you to
buy the highest stealth skill buffs. So early on, when the levels and skill
points are coming quickly, you can focus down on some skill tree and stick to
one career, but there’s really nothing stopping you from changing your whole
focus at any time, say working at a forge and improving your blacksmith skills,
and making a career of that, or throwing spells and becoming a magic user.
Well-rounded or idiot savant; it’s up to you.
The interface is minimized and I like that. The screen for
the most part is clear of character stats until you bring them up allowing you
to see as much of the world as possible without distraction. I will make a
complaint about keyboard controls, which seem to have been sort of stuck in as
an afterthought, the game primarily geared towards gamepad players. You cannot,
for example, bind a weapon to a hotkey. You can put a weapon (or any item) onto
a favorites list, call up that list whenever, and select the items you want
with simple mouse clicks. But I found that very quickly the favorites list
became overwhelming. I’ve got a one-handed melee weapon, a two-handed melee
weapon, a shield, a ranged weapon, three offensive spells and two defensive
ones, plus some potions and scrolls – it’s too much. That list opens up, and it
takes me ten seconds to find the item I want and then click it into the correct
hand.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare was advertised as a brand new way to play Call
of Duty, and that advertisement was right! When Activision flew me out to San
Francisco to review the game, I wholly expected my opinion to fall in line with
how I felt about past Call of Duty titles. The single-player would be OK but
would really just be a side show to the main act of multiplayer. However, after
playing the game, I have to say that my pre-conceived notions were flipped on
their head. Instead, I was met with a multiplayer suite that was decently fun,
but a single-player mode that was one of the best in Call of Duty’s history.
So let’s talk about the single-player first. There are a lot
of things that are different this time around, more than just the futuristic
time period of the 2050s. For the first time in Call of Duty history (spoiler
spoiler) the main villain is American (OK he is technically “South African”
because that’s where he grew up, but he is white and certainly American
seeming, and the single-player designers at Sledgehammer said that was on
purpose.)
The plot of the single-player goes a little something like this: you are
Mitchell, a former soldier who lost his best friend, Will Irons AKA Jonathan
Irons’ son, on the battlefield. You lose your arm in battle and Irons decides
to invite you into his PMC, offering you the best robotic prosthetic money can
buy. This arm ends up being an important symbol in the game, as Will died
because his arm got caught in a helicopter door before an explosive charge went
off. The arm you receive stands for the void created by the loss of your
friend, and the robotic arm you receive stands for the way you try and fill
that void with work for his father’s PMC.
Mass Effect was about time and place; you discovered the Milky Way's landmarks
and races, guided by memorable characters like Tali and Garrus, who served as
representatives of their cultures. Mass Effect 2 was about people; you learned
more about old friends and made new ones, and drew each of them close to your
heart. Mass Effect 3 fearlessly manipulates those personal bonds, forcing you
to make difficult choices and consider the greater good--even when the greater
good isn't always clear. The game is structured less like Mass Effect 2 and
more like Dragon Age II: three dramatic acts, each concluding with major events
that might leave you in tears, or at very least, shivering from the emotional
impact.
Mass Effect 3 is focused more on plot than the previous
installments were, and at first, you might miss Mass Effect 2's more obvious
personal touch. You meet some new characters, but you develop few new
meaningful relationships. A couple of notable exceptions aside, your party
members are familiar faces, and as Commander Shepard, you aren't traveling the
galaxy seeking individual crew members, but rather the assistance of entire
races. Some of the plot devices seem a bit transparent; what are the chances
that Shepard would just happen to find an old acquaintance on almost every
random planet? But once the plot is in motion, the human element returns, and
poignantly so. Mass Effect 3 frequently reminds us that the loss of a single
shining soul often takes on more meaning than a planetwide massacre. (After
all, what carried more emotional weight in Star Wars: Obi-Wan's death or
Alderaan's destruction?)
Mass Effect 3 has its flaws, but they're of minimal
consequence in a game this enthralling. By filling the Milky Way with vibrant,
singular characters, the series has given you a reason to care about its fate.
Ostensibly, Mass Effect 3 is about saving the galaxy, but a galaxy is just a
thing--an idea, an abstract, a meaningless collection of plutinos, planets, and
pulsars. But the game is actually about saving people. And there's a big
difference there. Watching cities burn from orbit tugs at your heartstrings;
watching a beloved companion die cuts to the bone. Whether you possess a
storied history with the series or come with a clean slate, Mass Effect 3
expertly entangles you in its universe and inspires you to care about its
future.
The FIFA series has long reveled in its own pomp and circumstance. Awash in
league licenses and Ultimate Team microtransaction money, its self-belief was
arguably greater than its on-the-pitch accomplishments. That being said, EA
Canada deserves recognition for continually working on the series, adding to an
ever-growing and vital list of game modes and chipping away at its gameplay
to-do list. FIFA 15 is the big pay-off you've been waiting for. It isn't
perfect, but it's a quality title that finally aligns many of EA's ambitions
with firm results. Make no mistake – this is a golazo.
The title's crown jewel is its excellent gameplay. Players'
possession of the ball feels a lot less pre-determined than in previous years.
This goes well with the refined dribbling and defensive tackling, presenting a
coordinated package that feels more organic and real, like you're playing by
your own whims and not negotiating imposed constraints. Shirking off a
challenge and retaining possession, or conversely winning the ball after a
tackle and starting the counter attack happens fluidly. A foot race between two
players for a free ball feels like a real contest, with physicality and
unexpected ball baubles coming into play. Finally, there is freedom in FIFA.
The ball behaves differently, which is no small matter,
since it also produces a greater variety of goals. Realistic deflections change
the complexion of play instantly, and often players are quick to react,
sticking a leg or a hand (for keepers) out to get a piece of the ball. That
being said, I'd still like to see A.I. players react more aggressively when you
call them in defensive support, as well as have more awareness of their own
teammates so there's less bunching and bumbling.
The improved gameplay is FIFA 15's most notable distinction.
Conversely, the career mode has seen only small organizational improvements.
The ability to set instructions for individual players (like telling a back to
always overlap his runs) is great, but in general the career mode hasn't
changed enough. Fatigue still isn't a factor (and there's no reserve system),
international management has stagnated, and while more players are uncovered by
your scouts, the transfer network still goes inexplicably dark at times. For a
game that has such strong online modes, the lack of an online franchise mode is
also surprising.
The FIFA franchise has gone from a game that was huge because of the de facto
effect of its numerous licenses to a title that stands tall thanks to its own
abilities. FIFA 15 takes the series into a whole other level with gameplay that
betters the surmounting hype that threatened to engulf it. Playing it makes me
believe I can do just about anything with the ball at my feet, and this
self-assurance is powerful. If you have the desire, FIFA 15 meets the
challenge. It does not disappoint.
There are few games that can say they've changed the face of a genre forever,
but it's no exaggeration to say that Halo did. Many of the mechanics it
introduced became commonplace, and it almost single-handedly defined the
console shooter. The first new IP from Bungie since Halo and one of the most
expensive games ever made, Destiny has a lot of expectations riding on it. Is
it another Halo? That question isn't as easy to answer because despite the
similarities, Destiny is very much its own beast.
Destiny is set in the distant future. Humanity discovers a
being known as The Traveler, who gifts mankind with knowledge that leads them
into a golden age. An evil darkness followed The Traveler to Earth, and the
ensuing war decimates humanity and the Traveler. The remainder of mankind is
forced to live in a single city, The Tower, and Guardians are tasked with
stopping threats to the city, aiding the Traveler and eliminating the forces of
darkness.
Destiny's story is the weakest part of the experience. It teeters between
generic and melodramatic and never manages to capture a consistent tone. There
aren't any memorable characters, and the central plot is muddled and
unsatisfying. It takes a long time for the story to get going, and once it
does, it's a long string of barely explained MacGuffins until a final boss
fight that's so generic and faceless that it's difficult to care when you
defeat it.
Characters are introduced and dropped without much thought,
and most of the story line is told through the repetitive mutterings of your
trust robot companion, The Ghost (Peter Dinklage). Dinklage doesn't bring his
"A" game to the role, and it really shows. The Ghost feels wooden and
uninteresting, and its attempts at being charming or snarky fall flat. Since it
narrates most of the game, it really needed to be a more dynamic and
interesting character. Destiny feels like it is torn between the plot-light
stylings of an MMO and the more involved drama of a traditional FPS, but it
doesn't manage to find the balance between either.
Fortunately, the weak story can be comfortably carried by
the excellent gameplay. The gunplay is instantly recognizable as being a
descendant of Halo: Combat Evolved. It's a fast-paced action game with an
emphasis on mixing melee and ranged gameplay, and there's a large focus on
mobility. If you played Halo, it won't be a one-for-one translation to Destiny,
but you'll have a clear idea of the combat mechanics. This is one area where
Destiny instantly stands out from its competitors because a lot of time and
effort was spent on making the gunplay feel good and balanced. The speed and
mobility of combat, combined with Halo-style regenerating shields, keeps things
feeling fast-paced, and the system rewards skill as much as the ability to get
the drop on the opponent.
Ever since I got my hands on Grand Theft Auto IV back in
late 2008, my respect for Rockstar’s flagship series has only grown. You see,
at the time, I had just moved to the United States, and while I won’t claim
that the transition from the snowy winters of Toronto to the balmy summers of
Orlando served as a major culture shock, you’ll always feel like a fish out of
water when you move to a different country.
Maybe that’s why the exploits of protagonist Niko Bellic
caught my attention. Sure, I didn’t have a rough upbringing in the Eastern Bloc
like he did, but Rockstar North injected some much needed diversity into the
open world genre. The concept of the American Dream (and perhaps the facade
that it might represent) was a central tenet throughout the story, and it
resonated with me, as I’m sure it did to many. Even the criminally underrated
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars managed to keep me hooked, partly because I
was intrigued by the inclusion of an Asian protagonist, but mostly because I
was surprised at just how compelling a handheld GTA title could be.
It’s kind of fitting then that years after I had settled
into my American life that Grand Theft Auto V saw a release, a game that
focuses on the pursuit of the almighty dollar, all while criticizing and
lampooning our materialistic and over-indulgent society. While it’s been
released on multiple platforms over the past two years, the recent PC version
has garnered much attention, and for good reason. While the core game has
remained largely unchanged from its console counterparts, the PC release of
Grand Theft Auto V is undoubtedly the definitive version, a far cry from the
unoptimized and buggy mess that was the Grand Theft Auto IV PC port.
Grand Theft Auto V took its sweet time to arrive on PC, but this is clearly the
version to own, thanks to Rockstar putting care into the port to supply not
only a beautiful looking game that can run a butter smooth 60fps, but is also
the most feature rich version, containing all the engaging story, refinements
to the game mechanics and all new built-in applications to allow creators to
make their own shorts within the world of Grand Theft Auto V. At the end of the
day, this is still Grand Theft Auto V, an entry that I find is the best in the
series, and a game that has been made that little bit better with the
performance boost and graphical enhancements.
