Moving On

A few days ago I took a job writing for Gamespresso.  While I will try to still post to PBG occasionally, my focus has been shifted.  I ask anyone who read PBG to please come join me on this new site.  I'm excited for future content to come.

Blake Hester

Far Cry 4 - Valley of the Yetis Trailer

Source: PlayStation

Coming March 10, 2015, Far Cry 4's Valley of the Yetis DLC puts protagonist Ajay Ghale against the Himalayas, a dangerous cult, and Yetis. Yeah, freaking Yetis. We're very excited about this and you should be too.  For more info on Valley of the Yetis, stay tuned to PBG.  

Hunger Screenshots

Hunger is the new game from Swedish developers Tarsier Studios, the minds behind LittleBigPlanet PS Vita.  Tarsier's official blog had this to say about the game:

"At its heart, Hunger is a simple idea. A young girl is trapped in a labyrinth full of monsters and wants to escape. It will be your job to help her do this. It’s a genre we’re calling ‘suspense-adventure’, on account of the fact that there will be plenty of both. Coupled with an unnerving ‘Dollhouse Perspective’, tactile controls, and characters with soft, dark centres, Hunger will take your hand and let it go at the worst possible moment!"

Check out some eerie screenshots for Hunger below.  For more news and info, keep it locked here on PBG.

                     Source: Tarsier Studios

Hunger - Teaser Trailer

Source: Tarsier Studios

Developed by Tarsier Studios, the studio behind LittleBigPlanet PS Vita, comes the new game Hunger.  Described in a blog post as being "suspense-adventure," due to the game having "plenty of both," Hunger will follow a young girl as she tries to escape a labyrinth known only as "The Maw."  For more information on Hunger, keep it locked on PBG.

Technical Issues

Due to a failing internet connection, our Twitch stream got cut short tonight.  Hopefully future streams will run more smoothly.  Sorry for the inconvenience.

Twitch Tuesday!

I usually do a "Twitch Monday," but was just far too tired yesterday.  So, yesterdays missed stream will be done tonight at 8pm Eastern Time (5pm CST).  Once again, I will be streaming The Wolf Among Us, I'm doing episode three this week, and I invite anyone to join and contribute to the conversation.  See you there!

Link to profile.

The Order: 1886 Review

Title: The Order: 1886

Platform(s): PlayStation 4

Release Date: February 20, 2015

ESRB: Mature

Review by Blake Hester

In The Order: 1886, London hangs by a thread and its rescue or demise lies in your hands. But with nothing as it seems, achieving a solution may be easier said than done. Developed by Ready At Dawn, The Order: 1886 tells one of the more interesting stories in games of the past few years. Its use of film techniques to tell its story, coupled with the game's solid gameplay and excellent combat, as well as its interesting twists on history, make for a very good experience. But The Order's often lengthy stretches with no action, misuse of a great location, and poor use of Quick Time Events ultimately take away from the game being something great.

Taking place in an alternate Victorian London, The Order tells a story of a secret war that has raged for centuries between a species of Halfbreed Lycans and Mankind. Keeping man safe and the war away from the public eye are the Queen of England's Royal Knights, or “The Order.” Knights of The Order are sworn under oath to protect man from the Halfbreeds and are bound to allegiance by the use of Blackwater, an elixir that extends life and speeds up physical recovery. When a mysterious attack plagues the London trade monopoly, The United India Company, The Order is sent in to rectify the situation. The Order quickly blames the anarchist group, “The Rebellion,” for mixing with the Halfbreeds in an effort to overthrow the monarchy. A desperate battle begins between The Order and The Rebellion and it is a race against time to save London from those who wish to see it brought to its knees.

Players are given control of the Knight, Grayson or “Sir Galahad,” whose blind allegiance to The Order often stands in the way of him seeing the corruption that digs its nails deep within the back of those who control London. Conspiracies run deep, pitting many groups against each other, all the while masking secret alliances. Galahad must search for answers quickly or the entire species may be at risk and the very cause he has fought for for centuries may be for nothing.

One of The Order's main draws is its fascinating story. The game tells a story of brotherhood, betrayal, and rebellion. The game builds up a rich lore, and it's hard to not want to know more about The Order, this centuries old war, and how things became the way they are in London. The story's pacing is slow, but deliberate, never giving players an absolute conclusion and always leaving them wanting more. As Galahad digs through the layers of conspiracies, The Order inches you closer and closer to the edge of your seat as one answer is given and another is asked. By the time the credits roll, players are not given a full resolution. But it doesn't feel as though the game robs you of answers, rather it leaves you wanting more.

The Order takes place takes place in 19^th century London around the time of the Industrial Revolution. But, the game is an alternate view of history where technology is far more advanced and items such as the zeppelin and the fully automatic rifle were invented decades before they were in our universe. Ready At Dawn bends history in a way that is as believable as it can be. Rather than giving Galahad lasers and iPhones in Victorian London, the imported inventions usually are only borrowed from a few decades after 1886. This makes their inclusion in the game more believable, implying that the universe this game takes place in is only maybe forty or fifty years more advanced than our own.

Even the game's completely fictional arsenal makes sense with the time period. Weapons such as the Arc Gun that weaponizes a Jacob's Ladder and the Thermite Gun that sprays a layer of iron oxide and aluminum before shooting a flair to ignite it stay true to the inventions and discoveries of the time. A lot of care was taken by Ready At Dawn to make liberties with history believable and it shows as I was willing to suspend my belief as far as they asked me to.

The Order looks phenomenal. Character models and environments are meticulously detailed, giving breath to the world. Halfbreeds are truly terrifying and watching their American Werewolf-esque transformation from human to Lycan is equally as anatomically believable as it is visually horrifying. Districts of London, such as Whitechapel and Westminster amongst others, have their own distinct feels that make each area feel unique. But, I wish there were more opportunities for exploration in the game. Very early on there is a shot of the entire city, allowing you to take in this world that Ready At Dawn has created. But when Galahad reaches the streets, they feel claustrophobic and linear, as if the entire city was built out of alleyways.

The Order is a story driven game and it is a very cinematic game. Taking cues from games like The Last Of Us, The Order uses film techniques such as lens flares and shaky-handycams to heighten the atmosphere. Visual nuances such as dust and scratch marks add to the over-all look of the game, giving the impression that the world is affecting the game camera. Cutscenes can tend to be long, but it never feels like a chore to watch them. On top of the great story, The Order has excellent voice acting that gives characters plenty of emotion and personality. Even at their longest, I was always completely enthralled by the cutscenes, ready to learn more about the story.

The Order interjects small cutscenes into gameplay in an effort to make a more fluid cinematic experience. Things such as going through a doorway or rounding a corner may be substituted for a cinematic that shows characters having brief conversations or alerting players to an item of interest. I imagine this may be distracting for some, or they will feel that control is taken away from the player too often. But, personally, I thought this was a very unique and fluid way of storytelling for a video game and I found that control was never taken away more than that of a Telltale game, for example.

I did encounter a few muddy textures as the game loaded new areas and occasionally the frame rate dropped, but for the most part The Order is a fluid experience. Also, a few side characters or background NPCs will look fairly expressionless. But these are nothing that belittles the overall presentation. With that being said, there is a fog that surrounds the whole game that did have a tendency to lower my field of vision. This could have been included in efforts to add to the dark atmosphere of the game, but personally I found it distracting. This also hindered a lot of environments from standing out, as they were masked by a layer of murk.

The Order: 1886 plays extremely well. There is a weight to controlling Galahad that makes him feel solid and grounded in the world. Firefights are excellent and tense. Galahad, even when in the company of other members of The Order, is often outnumbered and taking only a couple of bullets can result in death. So this makes it necessary to be precise when aiming and smart when taking shots. Understanding when to hunker down in cover and when to move offensively is also necessary for staying alive in the game. Players can use Blackwater to revive themselves, but also to slow down time and take more precise shots at enemy weak points. Enemies and allies will communicate with each other, alerting one another when they are reloading, when to stay behind cover, and when they need help. This not only adds to the presentation of the combat, but also can be used strategically in the moment, allowing you to have better knowledge of what is going on around you. The firefights always had my heart in my throat as I never felt in control of the situation. Rather each bullet that I was able to get to make contact felt like a godsend.

One issue I did have with the game is that there is often too much time between action sequences. The first third of the game especially has many moments where you just make Galahad walk from point A to point B, then to point C, and then at point D you finally get to shoot someone. A lot of this is spent advancing the story, but I feel like a lot of that could have been done in cutscene rather than on foot. In the last two thirds of the game, this isn't as bad and players are able to engage in a lot more action and gunfights take a lot more time to get through. But forcing players to walk continuously through the beginning of the game can get incredibly stale and repetitive as there isn't much to explore and despite a handful of collectibles, there isn't much to see in the game either.

The Order's heavy use of Quick Time Events has been the thing of criticism in the time leading up to the game's launch. While it is true that the game is rife with QTEs, for the most part (though not completely), a lot of these don't feel like flaws in the game. Most of the QTEs are prompts such as pressing one button repeatedly to get an enemy off Galahad or to reach for an item that is far away, both which are constant in most video games. The use of QTEs such as this don't personally bother me and I never found them to be distracting in The Order.

However, there are a few examples of the game using QTEs as a crutch and ultimately taking away from the overall experience. The game has no melee system and during occasional stealth sections when a melee attack is required to maintain cover, the game opts for a time-sensitive button prompt that if missed leads to failure. This becomes especially frustrating towards the tail end of the game where an extremely long stealth section becomes boring and repetitive as you are forced to repeatedly start over because you couldn't press triangle in rhythm with the game. Similarly, boss fights in the game rely heavily on QTEs. These moments are built up to be extremely tense, but they lose momentum fast, as all you have to do is strike, then move the analog stick in the direction the game tells you to to evade. Boss fights come during very pivotal moments of the story and the game takes away the overall intensity of the moment with these simple button prompts. These moments feel lazy on the developer's part and hopefully later entries to the series will opt for more fleshed out melee mechanics and more intense boss fights.

The Order:1886 is an interesting ride. Its unique way of intertwining gameplay with its excellent story makes for a seamless experience that keeps players interested in what will happen next. The Order's twist on European history paired with its great gameplay and excellent combat make this a journey worth taking, but unfortunately too much downtime in the game mixed with lazy QTE sections don't give too much reason to stay in London once the credits roll on this entry. Hopefully a sequel will fix these issues and give us reason to return during the next go around.

7 out of 10

Very Good. This game is worth playing, but it may have unforgivable issues that hinder it from cracking the top three. It may be a fun game in the moment, but also may be forgettable in the end.

PBG Is On Twitter!

PBG has joined the Twittersphere!  Find us at @PBGTweeter and give us a follow to stay up to date with the site's content.

PBG Update - 2.21.15

Unfortunately, I made the decision against adding new content to the site today (except for this of course).  Aside from being deep in my own playthrough of The Order: 1886, it seems I can't turn my head with out seeing another outlet's reviews, discussions, and/or opinions of the game.  For fear of spoilers or other information that may influence my own opinions, I have tried to spend as little time on the internet today as possible.  That being said, I'm fairly sure I am almost done with the game and since I have a lot of thoughts and opinions cooking up, a review should be posted fairly soon.

Speaking of posting to the site, I have quite a bit of future content that I am very excited to post.  I have an awesome interview with Czech developers, Spellbound Games, as well as a few feature ideas to tie in with PBG's coverage of The Order.  This of course added to the news, reviews, and opinions already added to the site daily.  I am very excited to share what I have been working on, so be on the lookout for these items within the next week!

-Blake Hester
Parentsbasementgaming@gmail.com

The Order: 1886 - Initial Thoughts

I have played The Order: 1886 for about five hours and I am happy to announce that the credits have not rolled yet.  Aside from debunking game-length controversy, I have really enjoyed my time with the game.  It is amazingly beautiful, but also Ready At Dawn's skewed take on London is fully realized in the most believable way possible.  A lot of care has been taken to make what didn't actually exist in the era, such as blimps or automatic rifles, fit in with the style of the world.  I was worried that the game would be a Victorian London with lasers and all the added inventions would feel forced, but I find myself willing to suspend my belief as far as the game asks.

The Order has taken a lot of criticism for the amount of cinematics and quick time events that break up the flow of the gameplay.  While the game does have a large amount of cutscenes, for the most part they feel necessary and flow well with the pace of the gameplay.  As for the QTEs, a lot don't feel too different than those you would see in other games, such as The Last Of Us or Uncharted.  QTEs that require you to repeatedly press a button to force an enemy off of you or to counter attacks are repeatedly used in The Order.  But personally I have no issues with these.  Unfortunately, the game omits a melee system entirely for simple button pressing, ultimately ruining the suspense of certain moments in the game.  These instances are more troublesome for me as it feels lazy on the developer's part.

If I had to guess, I would say I am about half way through The Order.  All opinions above are subject to change and will be fleshed out in my full review.  For more on The Order: 1886, stay here at PBG.

Alto's Adventure Review

Title: Alto's Adventure

Platform(s): iOS Devices

Release Date: February 19, 2015

Rating: 9+

I should begin this article by saying that I do not like mobile games. It's a medium that completely missed me. I find many to be nothing but time wasters and I can't stand staring at a tiny screen while trying to play. So I really mean it when I say that Alto's Adventure is a really good game that has me constantly picking up my phone for another round.  Alto's Adventure is a simple game with simple mechanics. Though the difficulty of the game never increases, it wraps its players up in its addicting level goals and beautiful art style.

Alto's Adventure tells the story of a herder who wakes up to find that his or her llamas have escaped and are running down what appears to be the longest hill in the world. Without thought, the herder dashes off on snowboard to collect these wandering llamas and maybe perform a few double backflips along the way. That's all Alto's Adventure has in the way of story and that is plenty to give you incentive to go down the hill over and over again.

Alto's Adventure stands out for being a visually stunning mobile game. The game is bright, colorful and feels like it is popping off the screen, even when played on very small one. Snow falls from the sky, trees lose their leaves, and the sun pokes its head out from behind mountains in the distance. Alto's Adventure has its own day/night cycle and even dynamic weather that make each trip down the hill feel unique from the last. The game has a calming soundtrack and sound effects such as the sound of snow under your board or thunder crashing during storms do a lot to add to the atmosphere of the game. It's awesome to see so much care put into the visuals of a mobile game to give it its own unique feel and stand apart from other games on the market.

The only slight annoyance to this is that at night it can sometimes be hard to see obstacles the player must jump over, leading to some premature runs. While this doesn't happen often enough to be a major complaint, it is also not rare enough to be overlooked.

Alto's Adventure is a randomly generated game, where each trip down the hill is different from the last. As the player rides downwards, there will be dangers such as chasms or obstacles that they must jump over by tapping on the screen. There are also ramps and bunting chords for the rider to perform tricks on. Tapping and holding a finger on the screen will cause the boarder to perform a backflip and landing on a bunting chord will result in a grind trick. Occasionally riders will be chased down the hills by NPCs called “elders” that come at players quickly and have the ability to knock characters off their boards. It is up to the player to jump, ramp, and grind away from elders to remain going down the slope.

The game's mechanics are very simple, but solid. The game always registered when I tapped the screen and once I got the feel of the game, it was very easy to control. When I missed a jump or didn't land a backflip, I always felt that my rhythm was at fault, not the game. I think it is worth noting that I played the game with a screen protector on and still never felt that the game was missing my finger. During the several hours I played Alto's Adventure, it constantly performed well.

One gripe I do have with the game is that it never seems to pick up in difficulty. As you travel further down the hill, their never seems to be an increase in challenge. Chasms never get wider, you never have to outrun more than one elder at a time, and obstacles never become more numerous. I feel that the game's simple controls could have created a good opportunity to make a challenging game that gave players incentive to try and break their record distance with each time that they played. But, once players understand the controls of the game, its very simple to fly down the hill for great distances without breaking a sweat.

Though the game never gets harder, the games level-up system poses different goals that are challenging and become the major draw of the game. Objectives such as performing two double-backflips in one run or staying airborne for three seconds become addicting as you think that maybe you can get them all with just one more trip down the hill. I found that I wasn't concerned with how far I could make it in the game; rather I felt driven to keep completing these objectives to see what new challenges it would throw my way.

The game rewards players with a new character for every ten levels they complete. These prizes are satisfying and good incentive to keep trying, but they also open up different ways to play the game. Different characters will have different strengths and weaknesses and experimenting with them to find out which one works best for each objective becomes necessary to continue progression. For example, the character Maya is able to flip quicker than others, but rides down the hill slower. If an objective calls for you to backflip a certain amount of times in one run, Maya may be your best bet. But, if an objective has you running away from elders, than a different choice may be the way to go. Finding which character is necessary for different objectives becomes a fun challenge and it isn't long before you are constantly switching out characters to complete each level.

I feel that many mobile games don't offer enough content or mechanics to be given a numerical score based upon the game as a package. So, in conclusion I will say that for only $1.99, Alto's Adventure is worth checking out. It packs in a lot of visual flair for such a small game. Though it is very simple and at times can lack challenge, the game's very unique look and attention to detail in its presentation, as well as its excellent level-up system, make this a game that shouldn't be over-looked for fans of mobile gaming. 

Blake Hester

Parentsbasementgaming@gmail.com

Interview with Ryan Cash of Built By Snowman

"We wanted to go back to that old-school gaming feel. Where games were games. Not monetizing business machines."

I had the pleasure of talking (swapping emails) with Built By Snowman founder, Ryan Cash, about Tony Hawk Pro Skater, the importance of making things your own way, and Snowman's new game, Alto's Adventure.  Alto's Adventure is a highly stylized, "never ending snowboard odyssey." The game costs only $1.99 and is available February 19th, 2015 for all iOS devices.  Article by Blake Hester.

  
PBG - Where did the inspiration for a snowboarding game come from?  

R - Inspiration for the game came from many places. For me it came from growing up playing games like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Amped (for the original Xbox). I was also inspired by films like Into the Wild, and Redbull/Brain Farm’s “The Art of Flight” (snowboarding movie). We took inspiration from games like Journey and Windosill for the art direction, and were also inspired by games like Tiny Wings for creating something that isn’t like your typical App Store game. Monument Valley and Threes! gave us the confidence to stick to being premium after seeing them do well as paid apps.

PBG - Alto's Adventure has a very stylized art direction, especially compared to other snowboarding games on the App Store.  The Snowman Blog cites games such as Tony Hawk Pro Skater and Journey as influences, can you elaborate on how these helped shape your game?

R - As mentioned above, they were sources of inspiration. Harry Nesbitt (the lead artist and developer on the project) often names Windosill and Journey as games that inspired his art style, but I’m sure there’s more too. With inspiration, oftentimes we notice things in the world around us and they stick with us – but we don’t necessarily remember them specifically as inspiration.

PBG - Built By Snowman has done several other apps for iOS.  Is there a specific reason you chose to stick with the App Store for Alto's Adventure rather than trying to do a console release?

R - iOS is just what we know. I started working at Marketcircle right before the very first iPhone was announced. They were making business software for the Mac, and then started developing for the iPhone as soon as it was possible. Next came the iPad. I was there for 5 years before leaving to make Checkmark (our first iOS app). Since then I’ve been iOS-only, and it’s what I enjoy and feel comfortable with. We’ve had a lot of requests already (despite the game not even being out yet) to bring Alto to other platforms – but at this time, all I can say is that we’re listening!
 
PBG - On your blog, you note how important it was that Alto's Adventure had no adds or in-app purchases.  Rather it was all paid up-front.  When these types of things are common-place in gaming nowadays, why was it so important that your game broke the mold?
 
R - We wanted to go back to that old-school gaming feel. Where games were games. Not monetizing business machines. I have nothing against freemium games – I play a few myself, such as Crossy Road and TwoDots (we actually made one ourselves during development of Alto called Super Squares, but we wanted to do something for ourselves – the way we would want to experience it. 

PBG - From here, what is next for Built By Snowman and what are your hopes for Alto's Adventure?

R - I hope to be able continue doing what I love to do. Building apps and games that solve problems and/or enhance peoples lives through entertainment. Making Alto’s Adventure has been by far the most rewarding experience in my life, so I hope to continue making things like it.

PBG - Thank you so much for taking the time to be apart of this interview.  Alto's Adventure looks amazing and I cannot wait to get my hands on it!

R - No problem! I really hope you like the game – it’s been over 2 years in the making!

 

Buy Alto's Adventure 

Official Website
 Built By Snowman
@ryancash on Twitter

The Order: 1886 - Launch Trailer

Source: PlayStation

Alto's Adventure - Screenshots & Concept Art

Alto's Adventure comes out February 19th, 2015 for the App Store.  For more information, check out the game's official website.

Alto's Adventure - Trailer

Source: Alto's Adventure

Alto's Adventure comes out tomorrow, February 19, 2015, for the App Store.  For more information, keep it locked here on PBG!

Dying Light Deveoper Tips - The More The Merrier

Source: Dying Light

The Order: 1886 - The Cast Of The Order

Source: PlayStation

The Order: 1886 comes out exclusively for the PlayStation 4 on February 20, 2015.  For more news and a full review of The Order, keep it locked here on PBG.

The Order: 1886 - U.K. TV Spot

Source: sonyplaystation

Twich Monday!

Head on over to PBG's Twitch channel to check out our stream of The Wolf Among Us' second episode.  Feel free to comment and subscribe to see all other streams.

PBG does a Twitch stream every Monday.  A post will be made on this site in advance saying which game will be streamed.

The Order: 1886 Too Short?

According to a recent upload of the The Order: 1886's entire campaign by Youtuber PlayMeThrough,  the game has a campaign that clocks in at only around five hours.  This accounts for both gameplay and cinematics.  Check out the footage for yourself at the above link.  Obvious spoilers.

Andrea Pessino, founder and CTO of Ready at Dawn studios, has Tweeted about the leak saying, "I am done commenting on click bait rumors about game length, 'downgrade' idiocy and such nonsense.  Don't bother asking."

Is five hours too short for a full retail release?  Is PlayMeThrough just doing a speed-run of The Order?  Voice your opinions below in the comments.

The Order: 1886 comes out this Friday, Februay 20, 2015, exclusively for the PlayStation 4.  For more news and a full review, stay tuned to PBG.

Dying Light Is The Best Selling Game For January 2015

According to the NPD Group, a market research company, Dying Light was the best-selling game in the United States for January 2015.  "In January 2015, Dying Light had the highest first month of sales for new IP in the survival-horror genre..." said NPD analyst, Liam Callahan.  According to a Tweet from Dying Light's official Twitter, one week after the game's launch on January 27th, the game had had over 1,200,000 "unique players."

                     Source: Dying Light

For PBG's review of Dying Light, click the link.

For more info on Dying Light, check out its official website.

Evolve Review

Title: Evolve

Platform(s): PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: February 10, 2015

ESRB: M

Evolve is a sleeping giant. At face value it seems hard to justify paying sixty dollars for what is seemingly a blatant lack of content. But what it lacks in size, it more than makes up for in quality. Evolve takes its own approach to the multiplayer arena and succeeds tremendously when it's not afraid to take chances. Though, at times the game can feel repetitive, Evolve's consistent fun, dependance on player communication, and solid gameplay make for an addicting ride that is hard to pull yourself away from.

In the future, humans travel from planet to planet in order to keep their species alive. Setting up colonies and factories, “The corporation” siphons the natural resources that each world provides. It is only when man lands upon the planet Shear that things become different. Shear is home to giant monsters that have the ability to grow and “evolve” after each feeding, the likes of which mankind has never seen before and the likes of which do not take kindly to mankind's visit. The beasts begin to terrorize and kill humans and it becomes apparent that if mankind is to conquer these monstrosities they must employ hunters with the necessary skills to bring them down. Teams of hunters are sent across Shear, hoping to claim the bounty placed upon each beast's head. It is a battle of species where life, dominion, and bragging rights of the food chain are the prizes.

Evolve's story is simply there to justify the game's existence. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if you bought this game looking for a story with rising action, a climax, and a conclusion, you made the wrong choice. In fact, everything from the paragraph above was summarized from the game's instruction manual, which has just fourteen sentences explaining what is going on. The game does little to tell you why exactly you are doing what you're doing. Rather it just throws you onto Shear's surface and tells you to kill the opposing force. Hunters are given personalities that do a good job of giving them different characteristics and there is a cutscene prior to you jumping into things that slightly explains why you are there. But the game says absolutely nothing about the background of the monsters. Again, not a bad thing and not a complaint. It just seems odd to include a story to the game at all if it is only hidden within the instruction manual and is barely evident on the disc.

Though Hunters are all given unique personalities, that doesn't mean that they are all likable characters. Some of the dialogue is painfully cliché and lines such as, “it may be desperate, but nothing is impossible” are enough to have your eyes rolling in circles. Characters are voiced well enough, but once again each character is just another cliché. Character's such as the confident commander, the mysterious amazonian, and the hillbilly with an itchy trigger finger are all accounted for in Evolve. But the worst of them all is the dumb Austrian, Markov. His terrible Schwarzenegger impression repeats the same annoying one-liners over and over and there is only so many times you can hear him say, “all we need do is find beast,” before you want to throw your console out the window.

Repetitive dialogue comes from all the characters though. As you play through the game, characters have conversations with each other. This is interesting at first, but these interactions quickly become old as you hear the same jokes and lines over and over. It would have been nice to see more diversity added to these conversations so that they feel dynamic and spontaneous. It is as if these characters are just passing time, waiting for something to happen.

Evolve is a good looking game, but it won't exactly “wow” you. Character models look good and worlds are densely packed with terrain and wildlife, but the visuals don't jump off the screen. That being said, something that I started to notice very early on was a lack of diversity in the different maps. While some offer more vertical terrain or a desert skin and maps are huge, most of the them feel very similar. Despite what map they said I was in, I constantly felt I was running through the same forest with only the changing weather offering any slight differences. If Evolve takes place on the whole planet of Shear, it just doesn't make sense that the game couldn't offer a larger variety of maps to play in. It's not something that takes away from the overall gameplay, but it does become repetitive having to look at the same jungle style map over and over.

Evolve consists of two main game modes: A five round “campaign” called, Evacuation, and a quick game mode called, Skirmish. These pit a four player team, the hunters, who all have different jobs and skills, against a monster that has the ability to evolve into two higher forms the more it eats. Single matches rarely last over half an hour and playing through all five rounds of Evacuation usually takes between an hour and two hours.

The team of hunters consists of an Assault, whose job is to fire as many rounds into the beast as possible, a Trapper, who is in charge of catching and capturing the monster so that the other player's can fight it without it getting away, a Support, who shields the team, and a Medic, who tries to keep the team at max health as much as possible. Each player has a very distinct role in the match and it's worth it to experiment with each role to find out which one suits your playstyle. You may find that you rarely lose with one or two of the classes but can barely even play as the others.

In order for the Hunters to win, each team member is expected to do their part. If a Medic is trying to take the part of the Assault rather than keeping a close eye on everyone's health, there is no chance of them winning because one-fourth of the team neglected their role. Evolve is a game that demands player communication during matches and necessitates that each player be on the same page in order to win. Evolve can be immensely frustrating when no one on the team is speaking to each other and the monster just demolishes the whole party. But, Evolve has some of the best satisfaction I've felt in a game when a team is constantly talking through their roles and working together to bring down the monster. The game is made to put Hunters at a disadvantage under the size and power of the beast. But when everyone understands their role in the match and can adequately communicate what they're best strategy is, bringing down the monster becomes a much smoother and more fun task.

Something that can become annoying is the time spent running around aimlessly looking for the monster. There are things such as foot prints that you can follow as well as being alerted to the sound of the monster startling birds, but since the monster moves so much quicker than the hunters, it's often hard to catch up with him. After a while, it feels like the whole match has been spent running in circles without ever engaging in combat. These moments can become extremely tedious and boring and it would have been nice to see the game offer easier ways to track the monster or just faster ways to traverse each map,

Playing as the Monsters is not immediately the power trip it may appear to be. Initially, the Monster is small and staying far away from the hunters is the best approach. The plentiful wildlife that populates Shear allows for quick evolution, but even once you do reach the second stage, the Monster still has weaknesses, and it's important to pick your battles wisely. If the hunters do engage you during these first two stages, Monsters are incredibly agile and giving way to a cat and mouse chase with the Hunters can be exhilarating as you try to dodge bullets and reach the final stage of evolution. Using the Monster's far-reaching smell ability allows for you to stay on track of Hunter locations as well as find out the location of wildlife, but it is all left to the player to strategically travel the map and evolve. It is with the third stage that the monster becomes a complete power house. Though it is not impossible for the hunters to beat a stage-three monster, it is highly unlikely. Once at this point, the monster towers over the map and combining its move sets makes short work of each hunter. Reaching this level is an awesome reward for being patient with the game as it makes you work for the hunt and doesn't let the stages come quickly. It is totally worth the effort as you demolish everything that tries to stand in your way.

Since Evolve's five playable character's have such different characteristics, the game tries hard to make sure that the player gets as much time with his or her favorite class. At any time you can rank your favorite ways to play the game and the game tries to place you in matches that will cater to your desires. I found that I was often put into matches that had me playing as my first two choices and rarely did I have to play as the characters I wasn't fond of. This feature does an excellent job of keeping player's in their favorite shoes as well as keeping things fair and not forcing them to have to be stuck with a class that they hate. The game keeps a good rotation between classes, allowing players to get a majority amount of time with those that they prefer.

In Evolve's Evacuation mode, monsters have over run Shear and Hunter's have five days to save as many lives as possible. Players compete in five different games that have Hunters doing such things as destroying monster eggs and saving survivors all the while being hunted by an AI or player controlled monster. Match duration is usually dictated by how long it takes for the Monster to evolve to the third stage. If the hunters can complete the objective before the third evolution, they win. But, if the monster is to evolve three times, usually the win goes to it as it can kill the team quickly. Each of Evacuation's games do a good job of maintaining a quick pace. Hunters have an objective to complete before being killed by the monster and the monster wants to kill the hunters before they complete their objective. Each game has fair variation that doesn't allow Evacuation to get old or feel repetitious.

The coolest draw to Evacuation mode is the dynamic events that happen during missions, based on who wins each match. Boasting “800,000 total possibilities,” current matches are influenced by the ones before it. For example, if you allow the monsters eggs to hatch in one mission, the monster may have minions in the next. Or if you are able to defeat the monster before it reaches stage three, the Hunters may have active turrets that help them to bring the beast down in the next game. These give players real incentive to do their best in matches to get an extra boost and the addition of these events really can change the tide of a match entirely. If one team, monster or hunter, wins the majority of matches in Evacuation mode, the opposing team's chances of survival become terrible, at best.

The highlight of Evolve is its Skirmish mode. Skirmish is a quick game mode that's only objective is kill before being killed. Hunters are to kill the monster before it reaches stage three. The monster is to evolve and kill all four hunters before they can return the favor. Monsters can also destroy a power-relay once it reaches stage three which will automatically win the match. Matches rarely last over thirty minutes, but they quickly become addicting and the main reason I kept putting the disc back in.

As mentioned above, Evolve relies on communication between the four people playing as the hunters and this is most evident in the skirmish mode. When a team works, it really works in Evolve. The most fun I had with the game came when my team and I were working together to bring the monster down, learning from our losses, and experimenting with different ways to play. Whenever I was a part of a team that didn't communicate well or not at all, we always lost. Always. But this always made me want to try again. To see if the next match would be different, to see if I would find a team that I was compatible with. This quickly builds up an addiction and it becomes hard to pull away from the game. Evolve plays great and has solid mechanics, but also, it makes its players think. It forces players to use strategy and work together to take down something much bigger than themselves. I feel comfortable in saying that Evolve's Skirmish mode is absolutely amazing and entirely worth buying the game for.

Evolve does feature a single player option that allows for a player to play all of the game modes by themselves. This is a good way to level up different characters or monsters, but if you have the option to play multiplayer, then there's little point in playing alone. The AI isn't very strong and defeating the monster isn't necessarily a challenge, even if it has evolved to the third stage. Similarly, the hunter AI is weak and you often find them running around aimlessly and shooting at wildlife for no particular reason. Evolve is a game that is meant to be experienced online and if you have that option than there is no real reason to go it alone.

Something that should should be noted and commended is how well the game runs. I spent countless hours online with Evolve and rarely saw a stutter in the frame rate, minimal visual issues such as texture pop-ins, and absolutely no glitching. Very rarely the game would have a slight lag, but it was never enough to detract from the over-all experience. Evolve, from day one, ran exceptionally well and I never worried about a match crashing or latency with the connection ruining my experience. When numerous games are coming out requiring hefty day one patches, it is awesome to see a game come out of the gate working perfectly, especially one that puts such a large emphasis on online play.

Instead of inundating players with countless game modes, haphazardly thrown together into a sloppy product, Evolve has given players only a few play options, but refined the gameplay to near perfection. The game refuses to let players run in guns blazing and expect a reward. Evolve requires thought and teamwork. The game gives you a great sense of satisfaction when all the pieces fall into place. When the pieces don't, it's hard to give up, because you wonder if the next match will be better. Evolve is addicting and insanely fun and despite a few repetitive annoyances, the game is an overall great package.

8 out of 10

Great. This is a game definitely worth your time. A game that is extremely fun and does a good job of being fresh and inventive. This game may have only a few issues that keep it from being something truly special.

Bloodborne - Soundtrack Recording Session

Source: PlayStation

Until Dawn - Valentines Day Trailer

Source: PlayStation

The Order: 1886 - New Screenshots

Four new screenshots have been released on the official The Order: 1886 Twitter.  The Order will be released exclusively for the PlayStation 4 on February 20th. 

For more news on The Order, as well as a full review, stay on PBG!

Evolve Has Had Over 1.2 Million Matches

According to Evolve's official Twitter, since the game's launch on February 10th,  the game has had over 1.2 million matches with the amount of hunter wins just barely leading the majority.  It should be noted that this Tweet came about sixteen hours before this post, so these numbers could be drastically different by this point.

For more news and a full review of Evolve, keep it locked here on PBG!

Dying Light - Night Hunter Evolved

Source: Dying Light

Initial Thoughts On Evolve

I have put about six hours into Evolve so far, and I have only played one of the game's modes.  I should admit, that it was the most basic match style in the game.  The "quick game" mode.  The game is so fun that I completely lost track of time and I didn't even think about trying any thing else on the disc.  I have mostly overlooked Evolve until now, not caring about all the trailers and publicity that surrounded it.  But Evolve has taken me by surprise, and I can't get enough of it.

No matter whether you play as the hunters or the monster, Evolve builds up a sense of urgency and panic.  Each decision you make matters, because your foe is constantly looking for you.  Even after I learned how the game worked and I played countless matches, I never had time to stop and enjoy the scenery.  I was constantly hunting or being hunted.  No matter who (or what) you play as, finding your enemy before they can find you is necessary for the upper hand.  The longer you go without being able to find the other party, the more panic builds, and the more you worry that maybe it will be you who is found instead.  Evolve kept my heart rate sky-high and I loved it.

Like I said, I have only tried one of Evolve's game modes so I still have a lot to work through before I can come to a final conclusion on the game.  But, as of right now, this game has me hooked.  I had to pull myself from it for fear that I would simply play all night. 

Stay tuned to PBG for more coverage and a full review of Evolve!   

Far Cry 4 - Overrun Developer Diary

Source: PlayStation

Evolve - Launch Trailer

Source: Evolve

Evolve is now available in stores and online.  Make sure to keep it posted to PBG for a review within the next week.  For more information on Evolve, check out the official website.

Twitch Archive

Check out this link to view the archive of PBG's Twitch streams.  Currently we have past streams of Far Cry 4, Dying Light, and The Wolf Among Us posted and more will be added each week.

Parent's Basement Gaming does a Twitch stream each Monday.  A post about which game will be featured will be posted on the site before the actual stream.  Make sure to subscribe, leave comments, and let us know what games you think should be a part of the next Twitch Monday!    

Twitch Monday!

I will be streaming the first episode of The Wolf Among Us today for Twitch Monday.  For added fun, I will only be making the choices I think are the worst ones during my stream to see what negative outcomes I may get.  Head on over to PBGTwitch now to join in the fun and feel free to subscribe, leave comments, and add to the conversation!

Renoir Concept Art

Renoir is a 2-D "story-driven noir puzzle-platformer," being developed by Spellbound Games.  Renoir will come out for PC, though a release date has not been announced.  A release for current-gen platforms is to be confirmed.  Check out these beautiful black and white pieces of concept art and keep it locked to PBG for more details about Renoir as they come out!

Renoir - Teaser Trailer 

                     Source: Spellbound Games

Renoir - Teaser Trailer

Source: renoir-game.com

Renoir is a 2-D "story-driven noir puzzle-platformer," being developed by Spellbound Games.  Renoir will come out for PC, though a release date has not been announced.  A release for current-gen platforms is to be confirmed.  Keep it locked to PBG for more details about Renoir as they come out!

Life Is Strange: Episode One – Second Thoughts

Dissecting Life Is Strange's gameplay seems trivial to me. It mainly consists of walk here, look at this, and occasionally rewind time to not say something rude. It's all cataloged in-depth in my review and though it sounds like an oxymoron, I don't think this game is about the gameplay at all. Life Is Strange tells an angsty story, full of kids that tread their own path and don't want to fit a convention. It definitely gives way to memories of being younger and dealing with the awkwardness of growing into one's self. But, more than all of that, it tells a story that's all about being alone in the world.

Within the first few moments of the game, the main character, Max, learns that she has time-altering powers. Like any sane person, she questions her sanity and realizes she can't tell anyone about this. As if anyone would believe her anyway. She has a potentially world-changing power and she can't tell a soul. She's alone with the greatest secret in the world.

Where this differs from other stories of the same nature is that Max is not a super hero. If anything, she doesn't want the power that she has. Common super hero conventions are a power fantasy where the loser becomes the savior; the common man becomes the hero. By the end of Life Is Strange's first episode, Max hasn't changed; she is still the outcast. She doesn't don a costume and have her world transform to where she is on top. Max starts the game on the outside and ends the game the same.

No pun intended, but there is power in a story like this. Having female protagonists is important, especially one that doesn't constantly wave her breasts around. Max is an important character because she is not strong. Max is nervous, shy, and alone. She appeals to an unclaimed demographic: teenage girls. Life Is Strange tells a story that puts focus on what is on the inside of a person, not the out. Max's power stands for the intricacies of a person that you must get to know, not those that you can see. In a time where the female figure is constantly sexualized, the video game industry being no exception, it is important to have characters like Max, Ellie from The Last Of Us, and Clementine from The Walking Dead to appeal to young females who are just normal human beings. These characters stand for people who haven't quite found themselves in a world that is often frustrating and as the title says, “strange.” These characters are important and they are just as necessary as our testosterone-laden heroes that we hold so dear to our gaming hearts.

Life Is Strange does not set out to be a mechanically astounding game. It is a game that says it's okay to not be normal and it's okay to not relate to everyone else's heroes. Max is on her way to being a fan favorite because she represents those who have been over-looked in the game community but have no less of a voice than anyone else.

 

                    Source: God Is A Geek

Dying Light - Second Thoughts

The more I think about Dying Light, the more impressed I am with the end product of the game. I was never excited for Dying Light. If anything, I rolled my eyes at the thought of having to play another game based upon a zombie apocalypse. I think Techland was well aware of the genre fatigue they were entering, and instead of making a game very similar to that of their previous Dead Island games, decided to breathe fresh air into a stale genre.

The first noticeable thing about Dying Light is that it is a solid game that works. In the past few months many games have come out broken or flawed, in need of hefty patches before being playable. Dying Light burst out of the gate with all its mechanics intact and ready to roll. I've seen people report bugs and glitches, but in my over twenty hours with the game, I have yet to encounter any major problems.

To me, Dying Light was a unique game. The dichotomy of day and night in the game is striking. When the sun shines over Harran, fear is the last feeling I would use to describe Dying Light. Even with the hundreds of zombies that hunt you, you don't always feel underpowered during the day and escape is never all that difficult. But, when the game transitions to night, the word fear is all I have to describe the game. Dying Light purposefully and deliberately strips you of the upper-hand with far quicker and more powerful foes and running seems the best and only option. This complete change in mechanics forces players be on their toes the second that sun looks like it is dipping below the horizon. Dying Light never lets you fully fall into a rhythm before it changes the rules on you completely and I love that. I was never bored with the game, because my safety was always fleeting and time was always of the essence.

Four days ago, it was tweeted from the official Dying Light Twitter that “over 1,200,000 unique players” had played that game. This impressive number and the ambiguous ending of the game gives reason to believe that we could see a Dying Light Two within the next couple years. I believe that if the game stays on the same path and elaborates on all the things that made Dying Light great and unique, a second iteration of this apocalypse could be nothing short of spectacular. 

 Source : Geekspective