Think of the coolest, most badass video game character you can.
Batman? Sam Fisher? Solid Snake?
They may be cool, but they're not the literal incarnation of Death.
That's right - in Darksiders II you play as Death, one of the horsemen of the apocalypse. Armed with a scythe or two and some heavier weapons, Death aims to revive humanity.
Yeah, revive it.
Apparently Death's brother, War, has wiped out humanity. Death is having none of it, and instead tries to resurrect humanity to wipe out War's crime. Death ends up doing loads of errands for lots of shady sounding people to get to the Tree of Life.
Everything in the game has a name which could easily belong to a teenage metal band. The Tree of Life, the Well of Souls or the Ivory Citadel, for example. Even the characters have overly exaggerated names. The Bone King and the Crowfather both appear along your path. It's pretty irrelevant but it made me chuckle.
The important part is the gameplay. Anybody who has played a Zelda game will feel at home immediately. It's instantly familiar but never boring, which is obviously enjoyable. It's based on puzzle solving and combat, but rather than having a sword-wielding elf Darksiders II chooses the coolest goddamn protagonist ever, a scythe-wielding horseman.
The puzzles within the game are fun and rewarding. They're not hugely difficult and Portal 2 it ain't, but it requires a bit of clever thought and some time investment. Though I mentioned that it isn't Portal 2, there is a point where you obtain a skill which basically replicates a portal gun, but that's quite late on.
Combat wise, the game comes into it's own. Mixing spells with strikes is common ground for any RPG player, but what it lacks in innovation it makes up for in substance. Death feels like a true badass, ripping through smaller enemies with fast paced scythes and powerful hammers and swords. You collect weapons as you go along from chests and enemies (sound familiar?) which have different strengths and effects (Hmmm. Definitely seen this before.). There are an array of secondary weapons should you not want to mash people with your scythes. These range from slow-paced, powerful hammers to fast paced bucklers. Choosing this weapon depends on your style of fighting and your enemies.
There are an array of spells that you can unlock and improve as you level up. These are fairly useful against smaller enemies but against bigger enemies they are invaluable. The bosses you fight along the way often require different methods to kill, which is similar to a Zelda game (shock) and they're a challenge. Fun, but a challenge.
Darksiders II is an extremely fun game, even if it borrows a lot of it's ideas from elsewhere. It's dark and brooding but at it's heart it's essentially Zelda. Combat is slick and fun but it's nothing mindblowing.
I would recommend playing Darksiders II as it's very fun to play. It won't knock your socks off, it might not even surprise you, but it's still a terrifically well made game with some clever little quirks.
82%
Saturday, 15 March 2014
Saturday, 1 March 2014
༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ PRAISE HELIX ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ
There are many religions throughout the world. Many have their own deities, prophets and rules. However, new religions aren't just started up spontaneously in a matter of days... right?
Just ask the 35 MILLION people who have been watching the famous TwitchPlaysPokemon stream that has been taking the internet by storm. Over there, there is only one god - the Lord Helix.
What started out as an in-joke between a few people has started to transcend the stream and even into the real world. The Helix Fossil is an in-game item, which in the heat of the chaotic battles often got accidentally clicked on. Players started referring this to as 'consulting the Helix' which kept escalating until we were hailing it. Our Lord.
For those of you who don't know, TwitchPlaysPokemon was a social experiment to see if everyone on Twitch could play a game of Pokemon Red. Their inputs were collected through the chat, which with thousands of people playing was just as chaotic as expected.
But what is truly amazing is that it worked. Through luck, or co-operation, the numerous challenges were fought through. On the morning of 1st March, Red finally defeated Blue, in a battle of the ages. It serves as a reminder that strangers over the Internet are capable of fantastic things.
There are so many references and jokes that have come out of it, that it's a shame to see it finish. These have become almost mainstream - it's strange to find someone who doesn't know who 'Bird Jesus' is (ok, maybe not). Those who started watching at the first day of the excruciating 16 day excursion will be left with a Helix shaped hole in the heart, but it was fun while it lasted.
It wasn't all easy - there were plenty of hiccups along the way. A day referred to as Bloody Sunday, for example, where fan favourites Dux and xCabbage, to name a few, were released. This was, apparently, an act of the Dome Fossil sabotaging our plans, the Satan to our Lord Helix. The 'false prophet' Flareon was also involved in this. The Rocket Base, which took a whole day to complete, as there was a puzzle that was impossible without the dreaded democracy.
Those of you who watched it had a great time, and it is a true shame to see it finish. It proves that with a little direction, 40,000+ strangers can work together to complete a game.
Just ask the 35 MILLION people who have been watching the famous TwitchPlaysPokemon stream that has been taking the internet by storm. Over there, there is only one god - the Lord Helix.
What started out as an in-joke between a few people has started to transcend the stream and even into the real world. The Helix Fossil is an in-game item, which in the heat of the chaotic battles often got accidentally clicked on. Players started referring this to as 'consulting the Helix' which kept escalating until we were hailing it. Our Lord.
For those of you who don't know, TwitchPlaysPokemon was a social experiment to see if everyone on Twitch could play a game of Pokemon Red. Their inputs were collected through the chat, which with thousands of people playing was just as chaotic as expected.
But what is truly amazing is that it worked. Through luck, or co-operation, the numerous challenges were fought through. On the morning of 1st March, Red finally defeated Blue, in a battle of the ages. It serves as a reminder that strangers over the Internet are capable of fantastic things.
There are so many references and jokes that have come out of it, that it's a shame to see it finish. These have become almost mainstream - it's strange to find someone who doesn't know who 'Bird Jesus' is (ok, maybe not). Those who started watching at the first day of the excruciating 16 day excursion will be left with a Helix shaped hole in the heart, but it was fun while it lasted.
It wasn't all easy - there were plenty of hiccups along the way. A day referred to as Bloody Sunday, for example, where fan favourites Dux and xCabbage, to name a few, were released. This was, apparently, an act of the Dome Fossil sabotaging our plans, the Satan to our Lord Helix. The 'false prophet' Flareon was also involved in this. The Rocket Base, which took a whole day to complete, as there was a puzzle that was impossible without the dreaded democracy.
Those of you who watched it had a great time, and it is a true shame to see it finish. It proves that with a little direction, 40,000+ strangers can work together to complete a game.
Wednesday, 26 February 2014
UFC Undisputed 3 - Game Review
A fat bloke from Birmingham with ginger dreadlocks and a scorpion tattoo on his right nipple walks into the ring, faced with Anderson Silva, the brutal middleweight champion from Brazil. They fight it out and to the surprise of everyone, they seem quite even at the end of the first round. But in the second round, Anderson Silva is slammed to the floor. The fat Brummie sits up and tries to punch a whole through Silva's nose, forcing the referee to stop the fight. Welcome to the bizarre world of UFC Undisputed 3.
UFC Undisputed 3 is, unsurprisingly, the third installment in Yukes' UFC series, based on the real Ultimate Fighting Championship. Fighting games are not entirely uncommon but those based on a 'real' sport (not Wrestling) are restricted to boxing and UFC, which explains the success.
The guy from the anecdote was my created fighter, whom I ran through the career mode with. Unfortunately, he isn't a real fighter, but he did eventually manage to win a UFC title with my expert guidance. I decided to specialise in stand-up fighting, though there are many different styles as there are lots of different fighting styles in the game. My gameplan was to KO my opponent as quickly as possible and for the most part, it worked. I had to adapt my style as I got better, both me and my fighter by increasing my skills in ground and clinch fighting. The career and create-a-fighter mode allowed me to be a flexible fighter and evolve, which was fun and realistic.
I know very little about UFC outside of the game, but I enjoyed the game massively and never felt alienated or confused about the sport whilst playing the game, which is a criticism often aimed at games like Madden. This is a massive plus as it allowed me to play a game outside of my comfort zone and enjoy it without knowing it inside out. Even if you don't know anything and have never seen a fight in your life, you can quite easily enjoy it.
The gameplay itself can appear quite complex at first (there are a lot of tutorials) but it is deceptively simple. Punches and kicks use the face buttons, guards and modifiers are mapped to the shoulder and trigger buttons and all clinches, transitions and throws use the right stick. Most fights start with a lot of stand up fighting, but Muay Thai fighters and other fighters of the same ilk will try to grab and take opposition fighters to the floor and either beat them or make them tap out with a submission. If you didn't understand a whole lot of that, don't worry, you will if you play the game.
My one real gripe is the length of the game. The career mode is really short - I blitzed through it in about 3/4 days, and whilst there is other modes, this is the bread-and-butter mode. I thoroughly enjoyed the game, but it really didn't last that long. I will continue to play and try out some more modes and I also think that my experience was limited as I could not play multiplayer, so that could easily extend the length of the game.
UFC Undisputed 3 is an incredibly fun game for anyone, not just enthusiasts. I highly recommend trying the game out and seeing if you enjoy beating up digital people more than is probably psychologically healthy, like it would appear I do.
84%
UFC Undisputed 3 is, unsurprisingly, the third installment in Yukes' UFC series, based on the real Ultimate Fighting Championship. Fighting games are not entirely uncommon but those based on a 'real' sport (not Wrestling) are restricted to boxing and UFC, which explains the success.
The guy from the anecdote was my created fighter, whom I ran through the career mode with. Unfortunately, he isn't a real fighter, but he did eventually manage to win a UFC title with my expert guidance. I decided to specialise in stand-up fighting, though there are many different styles as there are lots of different fighting styles in the game. My gameplan was to KO my opponent as quickly as possible and for the most part, it worked. I had to adapt my style as I got better, both me and my fighter by increasing my skills in ground and clinch fighting. The career and create-a-fighter mode allowed me to be a flexible fighter and evolve, which was fun and realistic.
I know very little about UFC outside of the game, but I enjoyed the game massively and never felt alienated or confused about the sport whilst playing the game, which is a criticism often aimed at games like Madden. This is a massive plus as it allowed me to play a game outside of my comfort zone and enjoy it without knowing it inside out. Even if you don't know anything and have never seen a fight in your life, you can quite easily enjoy it.
The gameplay itself can appear quite complex at first (there are a lot of tutorials) but it is deceptively simple. Punches and kicks use the face buttons, guards and modifiers are mapped to the shoulder and trigger buttons and all clinches, transitions and throws use the right stick. Most fights start with a lot of stand up fighting, but Muay Thai fighters and other fighters of the same ilk will try to grab and take opposition fighters to the floor and either beat them or make them tap out with a submission. If you didn't understand a whole lot of that, don't worry, you will if you play the game.
My one real gripe is the length of the game. The career mode is really short - I blitzed through it in about 3/4 days, and whilst there is other modes, this is the bread-and-butter mode. I thoroughly enjoyed the game, but it really didn't last that long. I will continue to play and try out some more modes and I also think that my experience was limited as I could not play multiplayer, so that could easily extend the length of the game.
UFC Undisputed 3 is an incredibly fun game for anyone, not just enthusiasts. I highly recommend trying the game out and seeing if you enjoy beating up digital people more than is probably psychologically healthy, like it would appear I do.
84%
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)