Bioshock Infinite Burial
At Sea – I am a huge fan of
the Bioshock series and Bioshock Infinite was one of my top games of
2013. So, I was extremely disappointed when I couldn't get into
Infinite's two DLC episodes, Burial At Sea. In my opinion, Burial At
Sea had an amazing story. Mixing the stories of both the original
Bioshock and Infinite was pulled off very well and getting to see
Rapture as a fully functioning city was the highlight of the whole
experience. Also, where Burial At Sea sits in the Bioshock lore is
very interesting and takes a turn towards the end that is unexpected,
yet ties everything together smartly. Where everything falls apart
for me is in the gameplay. For nearly the entirety of both episodes,
I felt I was just backtracking back and forth through the world,
pulling off meaningless tasks that were just keeping me from getting
to the main story. Burial At Sea also tries to mix the combat of
both games which was something I felt made the whole experience feel
sloppy and unnecessarily hard. Mixing Bioshock's emphasis on limited
supplies with Infinite's emphasis on fast-paced combat and increase
in enemies felt one-sided to me. I often felt that not only was I
under resourced, but I was unfairly resourced, leaving some of the
objectives nearly impossible with what was given to me. I know I am
in the minority here and I'm sure plenty of people had little to no
issues with it, but I just couldn't get into this game. For the
first time in a long time, I simply just stopped playing a game, and
opted to watch the ending on YouTube instead.
The Last Of Us Remastered
- I have a long opinion for this
one that you can read right here.
Sleeping Dogs Definitive
Edition – Despite the fact
that I roll my eyes at every rerelease and definitive edition that
now plagues the market, I couldn't help but grab Sleeping Dogs
Definitive Edition. I remember playing Sleeping Dogs when it first
came out and loving the arcade feel of the game and the gritty story
of the Hong Kong mob world. I was very pleased to find out that my
memory had served me right and Sleeping Dogs is still just as fun now
as it was three years ago. The focus on melee-combat, which works
extremely well, is one of the main draws of this game. Attacking,
blocking, and countering is extremely responsive and is the perfect
level of challenge, allowing you to take down large groups of enemies
without feeling unfairly powerful or vice versa. The upgrade to
Playstation 4 has also done a great deal for the overall presentation
of the game. Character models and animations don't look much better
than they did on Playstation 3, but the world of Hong Kong has
received a massive face lift for the port. Puddles collect on
streets when it rains, buildings and districts all have a more
distinct feel to them, and many other features have been included to
make the world more believable. If you missed Sleeping Dogs the
first time, the inclusion of the full game and all the DLC in this
new package really gives you no excuse to sleep on it for a second
time.
Watch Dogs
– I really wish I would have had a chance to play this game when it
first came out. Anything that makes a bold statement such as Watch
Dogs' “true next-gen experience” is more than enough to perk up
anyone's curiosity. But playing Watch Dogs seven months after its
initial release date didn't allow me to play the game while comparing
it to the immense hype train it rode in on, for better or for worse.
Personally, I really enjoyed the game and I thought it played well.
Chicago was beautiful and interesting to explore, shooting was solid,
and I enjoyed all the hacking options, even if there were far fewer
than the trailers might have led us to believe. Watch Dogs had a
story that did fall very flat though. I couldn't bring myself to care
about Aiden Pearce or any of his struggles. But the voice acting and
animations were both done very well, never leaving me bored during
one of the frequent cutscenes. One of the main draw backs of the
game would have to be its repetition. Throughout its lengthy
campaign, the game slips into monotony with its several “tail him
and spy on this missions.” But, when Watch Dogs just let players
run free around Chicago, causing mayhem and hacking away at the city,
the game truly is a delight. I can only assume that a sequel is
already in development by Ubisoft. One that I hope will expand upon
all of Watch Dogs' strengths and mechanics as well as fully realizing
the ambitions this game set out to achieve.
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