NOTE: I usually try to avoid spoilers with any game that I review, but this game has so many kinks and quirks with every aspect that I really think there is no way around it. I have pushed this review back a whole week trying to research other spoiler-free avenues that I could take, alas I have found none. So to clarify now, this review WILL contain spoilers even for the end of the game. Also, Dragon Age: Awakening is an expansion DLC thus will be a small part of this blog as well.
As and additional note, I really did not want to review this game because it is one of my favorite games of all time. I have very few of those and this is in fact the closest to my gamer's heart. The reason I did not want to review it is because I will be addressing all of the little problems that the game itself has.
As is usual with one of my reviews, I will start by saying that the storyline of this game is super amazing. If you like dragons however, you may be disappointed because there are only 4 in the whole game. First of course is the Archdemon, the second being Flemeth (if you choose to do Morrigan's Companion Quest), the third being the High Dragon just before reaching the Urn of Sacred Ashes. The last isnt one specific dragon, but the two specific spots where Drakes and Drake babies are fought. But I digress. The storyline is very captivating and the best part about it is that you can do all of the main storyline quests in any order you wish. Having completed 16 full playthroughs myself, I have found an order that works best with character/enemy development (as the enemies level as you do in this game). However, as with any game, the storyline is merely one aspect of the game as a whole.
Though I love the storyline (and how it is continued with each expansion and each new game), I will say that the gameplay does fall just a bit short of expectation. I will start with a few of the positives about the game so that this review doesn't seem overshadowed with the negative. I do like that whichever companions you choose to have follow you talk with each other once you reach certain spots of the game. Also, (and it shames me to admit that it took me 3 playthroughs to realize this) your companions can help you make things. I was highly displeased during my first few playthroughs because I was under the assumption that my main character had to be the one to make any and all traps, poultices etc. and was always distressed that I had to either save the Halla in the Dalish Camp (requires level 2 survival), or make the anti-poison in the Dwarven Royal Palace in Orzamar (requires max herbalism). With each playthrough after that however, I designate different specialties to different companions and mastering herbalism myself, that way each can be mastered by level 8 and I don't have to return to camp to make potions.
Now comes the negative aspect of the review. This game is very glitchy and has a great many quirks. One of which being that it is NOT meant for long term play. I have no clue why or even how it is done, but there is a difference between when a foe is slain and when he/it actually dies. The longer you have played, the greater that period of time. For instance, when you just turn on the game the moment a foe is slain (when you land that final blow) is the same as the moment a foe dies (when the game recognizes an enemy as dead and quests are update and the body becomes lootable). However, if you binge play for 5-6 hours as I am known to do, a foe is not recognized as dead for sometimes up to 10 minutes after it is slain. And no I am not being hyperbolic. I have had to wait anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes for a quest to be updated (because even if you have killed the enemy, your quest needs to update, that is the game needs to recognize that enemy as dead, in order to continue). This is especially bad when pursuing a random encounter quest as you only get one chance to do it. If you leave the area after you kill the enemy but before the game recognizes him/her as dead you create a paradox which cannot be resolved as the game knows that the enemy is dead thus removes the chance of a random encounter with that boss again, yet the game also recognized that the enemy has not been slain thus the quest cant update. However, though this specific problem wasn't resolved with the recent update, they did make an attempt to resolve the issue. Now, once the period between slain and deceased becomes too great, all you need to do is save and turn the system off completely and it resets everything and ceases to be a problem (unless you play for another 3 hours straight lol).
Finally, the game itself does seem to have a great many glitches as you progress. NOTE: This is where the SPOILERS that I mentioned previously come in. If you do not wish to know plot outcomes and epilogues please stop reading now. If you are unaffected by spoilers or already know how the game ends (and the subsequent alternate endings). Starting off light, once you reach the part of the game where you are staying at Arl Eamon's estate in Denerim, characters and NPCs start getting funky. I have seen companions standing halfway inside of walls, Anora on one occasion was seen standing inside the sofa in her room instead of beside it and a couple maid NPCs were floating in mid-air. Though I have only had these problems once and it was during my longest playthrough. As you can plainly see, there is a pattern emerging here. The longer you play this game the more problems you will have. It is clear that this game was designed for you to play in short bursts only, and going from point A (the beginning) to point B (final battle with Archdemon) as quickly and efficiently as possible.
The Landsmeet is an event that I have done at least 20 times alone. In fact, it is the greatest part of the reason that I play this game this far. I have only even received a perfect landsmeet outcome (all voters siding with the Wardens) once, and even THAT is a glitch in the game. Now, every time I hear all of the voters side with me and the other Grey Wardens, it sends terror straight through me because the game automatically recognizes that everyone has sided against you. How and why I do not know. Yet, if only one or two people side against you, you will win the landsmeet. This is the biggest FU glitch the game could have made. Its the same as a teacher saying "You worked and studies so hard and you got a perfect 100% on your big test so as a reward I am going to fail you".
The final big glitch in the game is one that I think is more awkward than annoying. I will say first that if you know one ending, you know them all. And you should know each ending by the time you begin the march to Denerim (final assault). The bigger glitch is that Alister dies AND survives at the same time. The night before you go to Denerim, Riordan will tell you that whoever lands the final blow on the Archdemon will also perish. After you leave his room, Morrigan visits your room and tells you that if you have a baby with her, no one has to die (this being the most chosen and recommended ending). If you refuse her and have Allister land the killing blow on the Archdemon, he will die just as Riordan warned. Yet at the coronation ceremony after the battle, everyone will talk as though he is still alive and tell you things he has done since fighting the Archdemon. Also, the epilogue will tell you that he went on the be a good king going on to live a long full life. I suppose this is a good way to get a positive ending without anyone having to sleep with Morrigan (if you are a female character, she will have you persuade Allister to do the deed, but Allister will highly disapprove and if your compatibility rating is too low, he will leave right after). Note: you have to put Allister on the throne in some way, either by marrying Anora or ruling alone, in order to get this glitch. Also, note that there may be future updates to the game that may remove this glitch.
Friday, August 1, 2014
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Remember Me
I have postponed this blog several times because I needed to replay the game several different times in an attempt to find any flaw that I could. There are only two things that strike against this game, however neither of them are too severe that it would cause me to give this game a bad rating. In fact, this game is a real life example of they kind of game I am looking for. Since there are so few of them, I will list the negatives of this game first, but as I said before, any long time gamer could forgive them in the entire context of the game.
The first negative of this game is that it is a linear game, just like FF-13. Though, unlike the final fantasy game, you continuously travel from point A to point B throughout the game. There are no towns to go to, and you cannot interact with any NPC. This of course means that once you pass a certain point in the game, you cannot backtrack for any collectibles that you may have just realized you have forgotten. Though I have replayed the game from beginning to end only twice, I have replayed several episodes multiple times because I went right past a Scaramech or Mnemist Memory. Being only a few feet away from where the object is, my only options are to finish the episode and replay later, or exit at that point and start over. This may sound like a big inconvenience to many, and it certainly is one, but I should also note that all of the combos and Pressens you collect throughout the game do not go away and you do not have to go through the rigorous activity of recollecting past collectibles or combos.
The only other negative aspect of this game is that you don't collect PMP (also known as EXP) from enemies after you beat the game the first time. In order to gain Exp after the first playthrough you have to find all the collectibles and complete achievements in order to get enough points to unlock the final few Pressens. Even this, as frustrating as it is to a collector, is not a huge inconvenience as once you complete the game the first time, you should have enough PMP built up to have all the pressens you need.
Everything I have just recorded is as bad as the game gets. Two miniscule designs that actually aren't problems at all if you take into consideration all of the things the designers put into the game. If I didn't know better, they anticipated that solo gamers like myself would find those aspects unattractive and planned accordingly to create counter balances to even out the negativity.
My most favorite thing about this game is, of course, the storyline. Those who know me know that I am obviously going to be bias towards a game that takes place in Neo Futuristic Paris. In the game, memories are a precious commodity to be bought or sold. Prisoners have memories taken away based on the level of their offence. The game begins when you awaken in a prison after having your memories removed. As you take your first steps in the game, a name named Edge helps you escape and the hunt for who you once were is on. For you history buffs out there, several of the Mnemist memories are about the history of Neo-Paris. The earliest memory is about 20 years in our future about a city that technically doesn't exist, but I for one have always been fascinated about how the world I delve into came to be.
The combat style works in much the same way that it does in the Batman games. However, you only get 4 combo attacks. There is a 3 hit combo, a 5 hit combo, a 6 hit combo, and finally an 8 hit combo. The combos themselves aren't customizable, but the Pressens you use for each hit are. The game has 4 different Pressens to choose from; Power-which are the heavy hitter ones, Regen-which restore health (the further in the chain you put it, the more health is restored), Cooldown-which take several seconds off of the cooldown timer for the S-Pressen attacks, and Chain-which are used to multiply the effect of the previous Pressen it is joined with. Unlike the Batman games though, the combos are fairly easy to master and you get notified of an attack with actually enough time to react to it (which is not the case in the Batman games).
There is something else Nilin can do, but you cant use it on your own in regular gameplay. She can Remix the memories of certain targets and cause them to remember certain parts of their life differently. This causes me to think about the real world aspect of such a skill. It makes me wonder if I remembered something differently or if I never remembered something at all, how would that affect how I am now? Not only was the storyline great, but it addressed something that I have been concerned about for years; how fragile memories are.
The first negative of this game is that it is a linear game, just like FF-13. Though, unlike the final fantasy game, you continuously travel from point A to point B throughout the game. There are no towns to go to, and you cannot interact with any NPC. This of course means that once you pass a certain point in the game, you cannot backtrack for any collectibles that you may have just realized you have forgotten. Though I have replayed the game from beginning to end only twice, I have replayed several episodes multiple times because I went right past a Scaramech or Mnemist Memory. Being only a few feet away from where the object is, my only options are to finish the episode and replay later, or exit at that point and start over. This may sound like a big inconvenience to many, and it certainly is one, but I should also note that all of the combos and Pressens you collect throughout the game do not go away and you do not have to go through the rigorous activity of recollecting past collectibles or combos.
The only other negative aspect of this game is that you don't collect PMP (also known as EXP) from enemies after you beat the game the first time. In order to gain Exp after the first playthrough you have to find all the collectibles and complete achievements in order to get enough points to unlock the final few Pressens. Even this, as frustrating as it is to a collector, is not a huge inconvenience as once you complete the game the first time, you should have enough PMP built up to have all the pressens you need.
Everything I have just recorded is as bad as the game gets. Two miniscule designs that actually aren't problems at all if you take into consideration all of the things the designers put into the game. If I didn't know better, they anticipated that solo gamers like myself would find those aspects unattractive and planned accordingly to create counter balances to even out the negativity.
My most favorite thing about this game is, of course, the storyline. Those who know me know that I am obviously going to be bias towards a game that takes place in Neo Futuristic Paris. In the game, memories are a precious commodity to be bought or sold. Prisoners have memories taken away based on the level of their offence. The game begins when you awaken in a prison after having your memories removed. As you take your first steps in the game, a name named Edge helps you escape and the hunt for who you once were is on. For you history buffs out there, several of the Mnemist memories are about the history of Neo-Paris. The earliest memory is about 20 years in our future about a city that technically doesn't exist, but I for one have always been fascinated about how the world I delve into came to be.
The combat style works in much the same way that it does in the Batman games. However, you only get 4 combo attacks. There is a 3 hit combo, a 5 hit combo, a 6 hit combo, and finally an 8 hit combo. The combos themselves aren't customizable, but the Pressens you use for each hit are. The game has 4 different Pressens to choose from; Power-which are the heavy hitter ones, Regen-which restore health (the further in the chain you put it, the more health is restored), Cooldown-which take several seconds off of the cooldown timer for the S-Pressen attacks, and Chain-which are used to multiply the effect of the previous Pressen it is joined with. Unlike the Batman games though, the combos are fairly easy to master and you get notified of an attack with actually enough time to react to it (which is not the case in the Batman games).
There is something else Nilin can do, but you cant use it on your own in regular gameplay. She can Remix the memories of certain targets and cause them to remember certain parts of their life differently. This causes me to think about the real world aspect of such a skill. It makes me wonder if I remembered something differently or if I never remembered something at all, how would that affect how I am now? Not only was the storyline great, but it addressed something that I have been concerned about for years; how fragile memories are.
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Splinter Cell: Blacklist
I want to first apologize to those who expected this for postponing it several times. I had to have dental work done earlier this week and it has caused more fatigue than I anticipated. Also, I will be commenting/reviewing only the main storyline of this game because I believe that (if it isn't already) should be the main focus and selling point of any game. Also, I have not tried Spies vs. Mercs yet as I have a compulsion to unlock/collect everything from the main storyline mode before trying another. For those that call that weird or strange, I agree, but it is what it is.
Also, I would like to note that I do not have any set method for which game I review and when. I will be taking requests for which game I should review next, but keep in mind, I review a game based on single player capability. No I am not opposed to Multiplayer (I play multiplayer on many of my games) I just have a personal belief that games today are getting too far away from the single player mode of the olden days.
With that being said, I believe that Splinter Cell: Blacklist (as well as several others I could mention) has done an excellent job of mixing single player with multiplayer. The first thing one will notice when playing this game is that you have a companion named Briggs whose missions are all co-op only. Those who know me in the real world would normally assume that this would be a hot-button issue with me, and under normal circumstances they would be right. However, in this particular game, you can choose to play either split-screen or online with some random person you have never met before. Having not actually played Spies Vs. Mercs yet, I can only speculate as to how it is played, but I would assume that it is strictly online. Which I would consider another positive side to this games multiplayer enticement. It completes the trifecta of Single Player, Multiplayer Co-op, and Multiplayer Online.
Now that I have discussed the multiplayer section of the game, I can talk about the things that really matter: Storyline and Gameplay. Being a huge fan of this entire series, I will say that I like how this game has taken a chance with a different style of gameplay. Earlier games in this series were strictly stealth, by that I mean that most missions ended if a body was spotted or if an alarm was raised. Blacklist may not be the first game in the series to branch out into what I call the "Run and Gun" method of gaming, but I give it major props for adding a third method to that stack. This opens the game up for all types of gamers to play with ease. I personally don't know why someone would want to play anything other than stealth, but I am bias. The official names for each gameplay method are: Ghost; in which you have to complete the level by strictly non-lethal means (knocking out enemies or going around them altogether), Panther; which can only be mastered by silently killing each and every enemy in each level, and Assault; which is the Run and Gun method I mentioned before.
Since I am a stealth gamer already, the Ghost method proved the easiest for me to master. That does not mean I did not have difficulty. As I said before, in order to master the Ghost method, you must complete the entire level by non-lethal means. If even one soldier dies, you will not get the token awarded at the end of each level. If you wish to master this method, I would suggest upgrading the stun gun as much as possible as it is the only weapon you should need. I do believe that there are some missions better suited to each of the three methods, but what I especially find appealing is that they will not include a token when one is not possible. For example, if a mission requires silence and stealth then they will not have a possible Assault token at the end of the level as any attempt to enter into full combat will automatically fail the mission. This is one of those things that games of other titles have ignored in the past, or never took into consideration in the first place.
But I digress, The second (and my personal favorite) is Panther. In this method, you can use anything with real bullets and a suppresser is highly recommended. I personally think that the name describes the method best, but there are a few notes of caution. The first being that when you kill someone and hide the body, any other soldiers linked with him in a specific area will somehow know exactly where you stashed the body as that is the place the initially walk towards. Even this isn't exactly a bad thing though as it simply makes it easier to set up the next target. The second note of caution is that you have to be very careful of open combat. Even after fully spotting you, there are still a few seconds before the other guards are alerted. The word of caution is not to exceed those few seconds as it will give you an assault kill instead of a panther kill and you will not receive the token at the end. It is my personal opinion that there isn't any specific level that is easier for Panther since any level where it is easy to obtain a Ghost Token, you can just as easily get a Panther Token.
Lastly there is the Assault Method. In this method you much engage all enemies and kill them in open combat. I would assume that in a pinch if you emptied all your magazines and only had a stun gun remaining, a combat knock out would also count toward the Assault Token, but I can only speculate as I have not been able to master this method. If you want are looking for levels where it is easier to master this method, or if you are much better at this method and looking to make fast easy money with this method, I suggest accepting any and all missions given to you by Charley. Just remember that any kills not made in open combat do not count toward the Assault Token and you wont get the bonus cash at the end of the level, but with any and all Charley missions that should not be a problem. If you are proficient at the Run and Gun style and need money so that you can become better at the stealth missions, I would suggest playing all of the Charley missions as early in the game as you possibly can. Also, all of the Armor DLC from UPLAY are assault oriented, and give you an edge on assault missions (missions where you chose to get the assault token instead of one of the others) a good distance into the game.
Continuing with this positive review, I need to say that yet again, I was not by any means disappointed with the storyline of this game. This game had me on the edge of my seat from the very first opening cut-scene. The gameplay is what you make of it and the storyline is exciting and constantly keeps the gamer interested. There is one and only one negative comment I must make about this game and I think it is the obvious one and that is Sam Fisher's voice. I understand that there are sometimes unavoidable reasons that a voice actor doesn't come back to do sequels, but when replacing the original voice actor, I would have went with someone else who fits the character. Sam Fisher is a man in his 40's (I am estimating) and he now has the voice of a man in his 20's or early 30's. Sam Fisher is a man who has been through a lot in his years, yet they chose to give him the voice of just your everyday average American soldier who sounds like he is just out of Basic Training.
I give this game 4.5 out of 5 stars. Outside of the fact that I have to get use to a new Sam Fisher voice (which is a me problem anyway) this is by far my most favorite Splinter Cell game in the whole series. I hope you all enjoyed this review and if you have any comments or suggestions about what game I should review next or how to make my current reviews better, be sure to comment.
Also, I would like to note that I do not have any set method for which game I review and when. I will be taking requests for which game I should review next, but keep in mind, I review a game based on single player capability. No I am not opposed to Multiplayer (I play multiplayer on many of my games) I just have a personal belief that games today are getting too far away from the single player mode of the olden days.
With that being said, I believe that Splinter Cell: Blacklist (as well as several others I could mention) has done an excellent job of mixing single player with multiplayer. The first thing one will notice when playing this game is that you have a companion named Briggs whose missions are all co-op only. Those who know me in the real world would normally assume that this would be a hot-button issue with me, and under normal circumstances they would be right. However, in this particular game, you can choose to play either split-screen or online with some random person you have never met before. Having not actually played Spies Vs. Mercs yet, I can only speculate as to how it is played, but I would assume that it is strictly online. Which I would consider another positive side to this games multiplayer enticement. It completes the trifecta of Single Player, Multiplayer Co-op, and Multiplayer Online.
Now that I have discussed the multiplayer section of the game, I can talk about the things that really matter: Storyline and Gameplay. Being a huge fan of this entire series, I will say that I like how this game has taken a chance with a different style of gameplay. Earlier games in this series were strictly stealth, by that I mean that most missions ended if a body was spotted or if an alarm was raised. Blacklist may not be the first game in the series to branch out into what I call the "Run and Gun" method of gaming, but I give it major props for adding a third method to that stack. This opens the game up for all types of gamers to play with ease. I personally don't know why someone would want to play anything other than stealth, but I am bias. The official names for each gameplay method are: Ghost; in which you have to complete the level by strictly non-lethal means (knocking out enemies or going around them altogether), Panther; which can only be mastered by silently killing each and every enemy in each level, and Assault; which is the Run and Gun method I mentioned before.
Since I am a stealth gamer already, the Ghost method proved the easiest for me to master. That does not mean I did not have difficulty. As I said before, in order to master the Ghost method, you must complete the entire level by non-lethal means. If even one soldier dies, you will not get the token awarded at the end of each level. If you wish to master this method, I would suggest upgrading the stun gun as much as possible as it is the only weapon you should need. I do believe that there are some missions better suited to each of the three methods, but what I especially find appealing is that they will not include a token when one is not possible. For example, if a mission requires silence and stealth then they will not have a possible Assault token at the end of the level as any attempt to enter into full combat will automatically fail the mission. This is one of those things that games of other titles have ignored in the past, or never took into consideration in the first place.
But I digress, The second (and my personal favorite) is Panther. In this method, you can use anything with real bullets and a suppresser is highly recommended. I personally think that the name describes the method best, but there are a few notes of caution. The first being that when you kill someone and hide the body, any other soldiers linked with him in a specific area will somehow know exactly where you stashed the body as that is the place the initially walk towards. Even this isn't exactly a bad thing though as it simply makes it easier to set up the next target. The second note of caution is that you have to be very careful of open combat. Even after fully spotting you, there are still a few seconds before the other guards are alerted. The word of caution is not to exceed those few seconds as it will give you an assault kill instead of a panther kill and you will not receive the token at the end. It is my personal opinion that there isn't any specific level that is easier for Panther since any level where it is easy to obtain a Ghost Token, you can just as easily get a Panther Token.
Lastly there is the Assault Method. In this method you much engage all enemies and kill them in open combat. I would assume that in a pinch if you emptied all your magazines and only had a stun gun remaining, a combat knock out would also count toward the Assault Token, but I can only speculate as I have not been able to master this method. If you want are looking for levels where it is easier to master this method, or if you are much better at this method and looking to make fast easy money with this method, I suggest accepting any and all missions given to you by Charley. Just remember that any kills not made in open combat do not count toward the Assault Token and you wont get the bonus cash at the end of the level, but with any and all Charley missions that should not be a problem. If you are proficient at the Run and Gun style and need money so that you can become better at the stealth missions, I would suggest playing all of the Charley missions as early in the game as you possibly can. Also, all of the Armor DLC from UPLAY are assault oriented, and give you an edge on assault missions (missions where you chose to get the assault token instead of one of the others) a good distance into the game.
Continuing with this positive review, I need to say that yet again, I was not by any means disappointed with the storyline of this game. This game had me on the edge of my seat from the very first opening cut-scene. The gameplay is what you make of it and the storyline is exciting and constantly keeps the gamer interested. There is one and only one negative comment I must make about this game and I think it is the obvious one and that is Sam Fisher's voice. I understand that there are sometimes unavoidable reasons that a voice actor doesn't come back to do sequels, but when replacing the original voice actor, I would have went with someone else who fits the character. Sam Fisher is a man in his 40's (I am estimating) and he now has the voice of a man in his 20's or early 30's. Sam Fisher is a man who has been through a lot in his years, yet they chose to give him the voice of just your everyday average American soldier who sounds like he is just out of Basic Training.
I give this game 4.5 out of 5 stars. Outside of the fact that I have to get use to a new Sam Fisher voice (which is a me problem anyway) this is by far my most favorite Splinter Cell game in the whole series. I hope you all enjoyed this review and if you have any comments or suggestions about what game I should review next or how to make my current reviews better, be sure to comment.
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Borderlands 2
I am going to start my review blog with the game that made me want to write a review blog in the first place. This game was given to me by a friend who had discovered she did not want her extra copy, thus if she hadn't done any spring cleaning, I would not have played this game at all. I never even considered purchasing this game because the case was very off-putting. People say "Never judge a book (or game) by its cover," however when it comes to games, that is the main selling feature. Before I digress too much, I will say that my initial instinct with this game was correct. The case looked very cheesy and discouraging. First off, It is a color that just disgusts me, and secondly my eyes aren't what they used to be and 3 microscopic pics that aren't even of actual gameplay weren't enough to sell me on actually buying the game.
All that aside, I actually did play the game thinking that I would be proven incorrect after playing for a little while and discovering that it is in fact a fun and enjoyable game. Unfortunately, my initial reaction was more correct that I could have possibly known. Instead of going straight for the bad comments, I feel it would be better to dictate my initial experiences with the game starting with the very first time I turned it on. I suppose the best place to start would be the character selection, which I personally don't think gives you enough info to actually start a proper game. The list is: name, class, Action Skill, and Combat Style. Normally all of those would be enough to begin your quest because I know my Combat Style on other games is the stealthy assassin, which is who I ended up choosing for my first playthrough. That was my first of many thousands of mistakes made with this game. The assassin should never under any circumstances be chosen to play this game if you are a solo player like me. Borderlands 2 is most definitely not a game to be played alone.
This is also the first of many contradictory concepts of the game itself. It's a game with no separate server or mode designated for online play, yet one simply cannot finish the game without the help of someone else. The second contradiction with this game lies with the Assassin personally. Borderlands 2 is an FPS, and by nature those aren't exactly made for stealth gameplay. Having an Assassin at all contradicts the nature of the entire game. Second to that, his Deception skill is by far the most useless skill of all the characters. His skill requires complete and full stealth from beginning to end in order to be used at all. However, being an FPS, the game uses a proximity detection system (I doubt that is the real name for it but it best describes what I am referring to). The enemies have constant lock on you from the moment you pass the point of detection, until you either kill them all or run far enough away... no exceptions. Zero's Deception skill causes him to become invisible for reasons that are far beyond my comprehension because enemies still maintain the perfect continuous lock on you. Finally, the use of the Assassin's propensity for melee is completely useless as it again contradicts the nature of the FPS. On my first day playing (keeping in mind I chose the assassin for his long distance and melee skill set), a psycho ran after me and began attacking me. Having disposed of him, I noticed his dripped the club he was using. I went over to the weapon and much to my surprise I was not prompted to pick it up so that I could equip it. Wait... What!? A game that has a character whose main skill is to use melee doesn't have equipable melee weapons? That alone caused me to be down a skill that I as a gamer have spent years building.
Surprisingly enough, there is an entire skill tree dedicated to my last remaining hope for the Assassin. Though the skill trees themselves are yet another thing that annoy me about this game. Each character has 3 skill trees and each skill tree takes 42 points to master, which means that by level 42 (if you consecutively do one tree) you should master your first tree. But wait, there is a catch. You don't start earning points until level 5 AND the level cap (without DLC) is 50. Meaning that if you want something halfway down on one skill tree then you may as well forget about mastering any of the trees. Normally in this instance, the game would allow room to master two of the 3 trees or not enforce a level cap at all. Don't get me wrong, I am personally grateful for the level cap, but I hate that you can only choose one of them. I suppose the good thing is that most of the Assassin's skills have to do with melee which we all know is as useless as can be in an FPS (cant stress that enough) so I was able to focus on my sniper tree.
This seems a good place to Segway into the issue of money. The good news is that if you uh-oh on your skill trees, you can go to any quick change station and pay a small fee to start all over. And I do mean a very very very small fee. I don't know how others generally game, but the fee started out being ~10% of my cash at the start of the game to eventually being ~0.1% (yes I actually took the time to count. This applies to all numbers and figures presented). If percents aren't your thing, I can recall that the fee was just shy of $5,000 when I went to fight Jack and The Warrior on Normal Mode (my level was 36 if that is what it is based on). When you get further into the game and start doing quests in a place called Lynchwood, the money just keeps pouring in. I average about $50,000 just running through the map once on Normal Mode. It is also a great place to get quick exp. if you need to level yourself. What I do not like about this game is that you lose money when you die, which is very easy to do when you are playing solo in a game designed for 3 or more. The toll for dying is ~6.9% of the money you have in your wallet. Again, I have checked and rechecked that number. I know there are those who would say that it "Adds to the challenge" or "At least it isn't a larger number", and my favorite "At least it isn't an exp penalty", and my reply is Why? Why does there need to be any penalty at all? I wouldn't be so peeved that the game is designed so that one cant play solo if there wasn't a cash penalty for dying.
However the selling features for this game are (as I mentioned before), it is not too difficult to gain exp and level up. The down side is that you need a friend to come in and boost you high enough to go grind comfortably. Another great selling point is the actual storyline. I love that from the very beginning there are lewd jokes and sexual innuendos and humor throughout. Handsome Jack may be the villain of the game but he is also the comic relief. I like that there is raunch in the game but there isn't any actual sex. Most people would say that it is a minus for any game, but I personally think that it improves the game. I seriously only recommend this game to those who either have 50 friends who can join in at a moments notice or who like to run and gun.
All that aside, I actually did play the game thinking that I would be proven incorrect after playing for a little while and discovering that it is in fact a fun and enjoyable game. Unfortunately, my initial reaction was more correct that I could have possibly known. Instead of going straight for the bad comments, I feel it would be better to dictate my initial experiences with the game starting with the very first time I turned it on. I suppose the best place to start would be the character selection, which I personally don't think gives you enough info to actually start a proper game. The list is: name, class, Action Skill, and Combat Style. Normally all of those would be enough to begin your quest because I know my Combat Style on other games is the stealthy assassin, which is who I ended up choosing for my first playthrough. That was my first of many thousands of mistakes made with this game. The assassin should never under any circumstances be chosen to play this game if you are a solo player like me. Borderlands 2 is most definitely not a game to be played alone.
This is also the first of many contradictory concepts of the game itself. It's a game with no separate server or mode designated for online play, yet one simply cannot finish the game without the help of someone else. The second contradiction with this game lies with the Assassin personally. Borderlands 2 is an FPS, and by nature those aren't exactly made for stealth gameplay. Having an Assassin at all contradicts the nature of the entire game. Second to that, his Deception skill is by far the most useless skill of all the characters. His skill requires complete and full stealth from beginning to end in order to be used at all. However, being an FPS, the game uses a proximity detection system (I doubt that is the real name for it but it best describes what I am referring to). The enemies have constant lock on you from the moment you pass the point of detection, until you either kill them all or run far enough away... no exceptions. Zero's Deception skill causes him to become invisible for reasons that are far beyond my comprehension because enemies still maintain the perfect continuous lock on you. Finally, the use of the Assassin's propensity for melee is completely useless as it again contradicts the nature of the FPS. On my first day playing (keeping in mind I chose the assassin for his long distance and melee skill set), a psycho ran after me and began attacking me. Having disposed of him, I noticed his dripped the club he was using. I went over to the weapon and much to my surprise I was not prompted to pick it up so that I could equip it. Wait... What!? A game that has a character whose main skill is to use melee doesn't have equipable melee weapons? That alone caused me to be down a skill that I as a gamer have spent years building.
Surprisingly enough, there is an entire skill tree dedicated to my last remaining hope for the Assassin. Though the skill trees themselves are yet another thing that annoy me about this game. Each character has 3 skill trees and each skill tree takes 42 points to master, which means that by level 42 (if you consecutively do one tree) you should master your first tree. But wait, there is a catch. You don't start earning points until level 5 AND the level cap (without DLC) is 50. Meaning that if you want something halfway down on one skill tree then you may as well forget about mastering any of the trees. Normally in this instance, the game would allow room to master two of the 3 trees or not enforce a level cap at all. Don't get me wrong, I am personally grateful for the level cap, but I hate that you can only choose one of them. I suppose the good thing is that most of the Assassin's skills have to do with melee which we all know is as useless as can be in an FPS (cant stress that enough) so I was able to focus on my sniper tree.
This seems a good place to Segway into the issue of money. The good news is that if you uh-oh on your skill trees, you can go to any quick change station and pay a small fee to start all over. And I do mean a very very very small fee. I don't know how others generally game, but the fee started out being ~10% of my cash at the start of the game to eventually being ~0.1% (yes I actually took the time to count. This applies to all numbers and figures presented). If percents aren't your thing, I can recall that the fee was just shy of $5,000 when I went to fight Jack and The Warrior on Normal Mode (my level was 36 if that is what it is based on). When you get further into the game and start doing quests in a place called Lynchwood, the money just keeps pouring in. I average about $50,000 just running through the map once on Normal Mode. It is also a great place to get quick exp. if you need to level yourself. What I do not like about this game is that you lose money when you die, which is very easy to do when you are playing solo in a game designed for 3 or more. The toll for dying is ~6.9% of the money you have in your wallet. Again, I have checked and rechecked that number. I know there are those who would say that it "Adds to the challenge" or "At least it isn't a larger number", and my favorite "At least it isn't an exp penalty", and my reply is Why? Why does there need to be any penalty at all? I wouldn't be so peeved that the game is designed so that one cant play solo if there wasn't a cash penalty for dying.
However the selling features for this game are (as I mentioned before), it is not too difficult to gain exp and level up. The down side is that you need a friend to come in and boost you high enough to go grind comfortably. Another great selling point is the actual storyline. I love that from the very beginning there are lewd jokes and sexual innuendos and humor throughout. Handsome Jack may be the villain of the game but he is also the comic relief. I like that there is raunch in the game but there isn't any actual sex. Most people would say that it is a minus for any game, but I personally think that it improves the game. I seriously only recommend this game to those who either have 50 friends who can join in at a moments notice or who like to run and gun.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
A Little About Me
At this moment (the date marked on this post) I am a 25 year old college graduate. I got a degree in Business Administrations, but that was only something to keep me busy while I wasn't gaming. I have been gaming since I was very young and will most likely die with a controller in my hand. My very first system that I actually owned was a PlayStation. Not the PSX (or whatever it was called), or the PS one (even though they were all technically the same system). I owned a PlayStation back when it was simply called "PlayStation". I was a Sony guy for a great many years until the Xbox came out. I have been a huge fan of the Xbox ever since, even though there were only two systems that have come out. The systems I have owned include: PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, GameCube, and Wii. In addition to the ones I have owned, I have played games on the original Nintendo, Super NES, Sega Dreamcast, and PC.
As for the type of gamer I am, I prefer my games to be single player, however I like them to be MMO style. I have a unique idea of what the perfect game should be and I am on a quest to find that one in a million game. Being mostly introvert, I prefer for a game to be played and completed in single player mode, however that is a mode that is almost non-existent anymore. I will be reviewing games based on the remaining population of gamers who (just like me) prefer to play a game on their own, but I will be giving the benefit of the doubt to their multiplayer mode.
I will say right from the start that I am slightly annoyed that game developers seem to have forgotten about this tiny little part of the gaming community. It is also my goal to hopefully meet new gamers who prefer single player, or at least playing online only with friends in real life.
As for the type of gamer I am, I prefer my games to be single player, however I like them to be MMO style. I have a unique idea of what the perfect game should be and I am on a quest to find that one in a million game. Being mostly introvert, I prefer for a game to be played and completed in single player mode, however that is a mode that is almost non-existent anymore. I will be reviewing games based on the remaining population of gamers who (just like me) prefer to play a game on their own, but I will be giving the benefit of the doubt to their multiplayer mode.
I will say right from the start that I am slightly annoyed that game developers seem to have forgotten about this tiny little part of the gaming community. It is also my goal to hopefully meet new gamers who prefer single player, or at least playing online only with friends in real life.
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