Welcome back! There's a big variety of games on the market, but which releases are worth your time and money? Games aren't cheap and it can feel disappointing when a particular title becomes a bust. Here's a handful of games I played with mixed results. Check it out! Vampyr takes place during the Spanish Influenza pandemic after the conclusion of World War I. The protagonist is a newly created vampire who's trying to find the creature who took away his humanity. Throughout the game, you have the option of living among humans incognito with relative peace or killing them for blood. The story and dialogue is one of the game's stronger elements because it's interesting, fleshed out, and shows a lot of character development. You'll get to know each character and deciding who lives and dies can be tricky. The gameplay is a nice balance of action, dialogue, investigation, and exploration. If you appreciate mystery games, Vampyr might seem appealing. Unfortunately, this game has many issues. The environment is very disorganized with a map that was constructed poorly. I ran into walls and blocked off areas frequently. Basically, it's easy to get lost. The RPG elements are unimpressive with a skill tree that doesn't make a significant difference regarding combat, persuasion, investigation, or other valuable elements. This game is really long and I doubt many gamers will have enough patience to finish the main story. Each chapter takes hours to complete because it involves so many elements, including a lot of spoken dialogue and multiple separate missions. Also, this game crashes all the time. I had to restart the game almost every thirty minutes because the screen froze. Vampyr has several intriguing elements and ideas, but the execution is quite poor. It seems like a cheap game that's trying to mash a ton of elements together. You might be curious enough to try it, but don't expect anything great. The premise is much better than the actual game. Legend of Kay: Anniversary is a remaster of a platformer that was originally released on the PlayStation 2. Try to imagine Kung-Fu Panda or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with a protagonist who’s a cat. I’m not a fan of this game, but it has a good mixture of combat, platforming, and magic. It’s also pretty cute. Legend of Kay has cats, pandas, rabbits, frogs, and other adorable creatures in an animated setting. The cutscenes are illustrated through comic book style graphics, which is a nice touch for a kid friendly game. However, this game is a complete mess. It’s very outdated with bizarre camera angles and clunky gameplay. The screen spins around every time the player moves. I literally walked off cliffs because the camera angles and platforming were so bad. It also doesn’t look like a remaster. I actually watched some gameplay from the original Legend of Kay on the PlayStation 2 and it literally looks the same. The remaster didn’t improve the graphics, controls, or gameplay. It doesn’t have extra features either. Ultimately, I recommend skipping this game entirely. It’s outdated and difficult to play because everything is so awkward. I can think of better games for family entertainment, such as Pokémon, Mario, Zelda, Crash Bandicoot, and more. Crackdown 3 is an action game that takes place in a dystopian future. Various corrupt organizations are making life difficult for the general public and an elite team of soldiers are going to stop them. I found this game highly disappointing, but it’s still kind of fun with a big arsenal of weapons, vehicles, combat skills, and other useful elements. Crackdown 3 have very little substance, but it’s a fun way to waste time if you’re bored. If you want a great experience, look elsewhere because this game is pretty bad. This game becomes repetitive quickly because all of the missions are very similar. It doesn’t have a big variety of enemies, the plot is generic and poorly scripted, the boss fights are really annoying, the environment seems quite small for today’s standards, and the entire campaign feels like a grind. I grew bored after a while because a bunch of explosions aren’t enough to save this game. Crackdown 3 is exclusive to the Xbox One and that doesn’t bode well for Microsoft. The PlayStation 4 has several great exclusive titles and the Xbox One simply doesn’t have a strong library of exclusive content. If you’re a subscriber to Xbox Game Pass, then you can play this game out of curiosity. You definitely shouldn’t spend money on it. I would say most gamers could skip this game and they won’t miss anything. Resident Evil 3 is a remake of the game with the same title back in 1999. It’s a classic survival horror game with zombies and other monsters. This game is one of my favorite releases in the Resident Evil series. It’s ultra scary with creepy environments, terrifying monsters, tension, limited resources, and everything a horror fan should want. Fortunately, this game cleaned up the issues from the remake of Resident Evil 2. The combat is somewhat more forgiving, weapons are more effective, resources are little bit more plentiful, checkpoints are more frequent, the controls work better, and Jill Valentine is a more athletic protagonist than the characters in Resident Evil 2. Small details matter. For example, Jill can dodge enemy attacks and she has a knife that doesn’t break. Resident Evil 3 is less frustrating and more fun, but it’s still faithful to the survival horror genre. It has a couple of notable annoyances. I remember backtracking through the environment a lot. You’ll have to maneuver through the same locations multiple times and it gets kind of old. Actually, it’s easy to lose sight of certain areas. Where was the train station? Do I go here or there? I got lost a few times, but I always found my way through Raccoon City eventually. Resident Evil 3 is also pretty short and low on replay value. Most gamers could probably finish the main story in a few days. If you replay the game, it’s going to be the same experience. You won’t unlock new levels, costumes, DLC, or anything else. Some gamers were upset because this remake cuts out a lot of content from the original release in 1999. I don’t mind because most of the cut material was really frustrating. The remake of Resident Evil 3 is definitely worth your time and money if you love horror. I wouldn’t recommend it for people who scare really easily. It’s a tight and well made game that should keep most players on their toes. Give this one a shot. The SteamWorld Collection contains two games; SteamWorld Heist and SteamWorld Dig. They’re 2D games with steampunk robots in a post-apocalyptic future. I wouldn’t call them platformers. In fact, they remind me of several mobile games with turn based tactics in SteamWorld Heist and digging tunnels in SteamWorld Dig. I didn’t like this collection, but it might be a nice break from role-playing games and first person shooters for some players. Both titles offer useful power ups that make the gameplay easier. That’s about it. I have to admit, this collection isn’t fun to play. The gameplay is just a tedious grind. This collection is bland, unrewarding, repetitive, and I didn’t feel motivated to play for very long. It’s missing the wacky, fun, and whimsical elements that are essential in the steampunk genre. I can’t even identify a significant plot. There’s no script or character development. The player just wanders around the environment and either shoots enemies or digs tunnels. I don’t understand the appeal. Honestly, this collection is probably one of my worst experiences on a modern console. It’s very one dimensional and surprisingly unpleasant to play. I can’t recommend the SteamWorld Collection at all. Batman: Return to Arkham is a remaster of the first two games in the Batman: Arkham series. It has Batman and all of his classic villains invading Arkham Asylum and Gotham City. Ironically, these games probably have the most accurate representation of Batman in any form of media. It's far more accurate to the source material than any of the movies or tv shows. The world building is really cool with excellent graphics that really look like Arkham Asylum and Gotham City. I was impressed with the combat system because the gameplay is fun and the controls are pretty smooth. It has a really good skill tree with a variety of upgrades that make the combat more efficient. Both of the main storylines are well developed, interesting, and faithful to the source material.
Return to Arkham has many great elements, but it's also very frustrating. The maps and routing aren't very good and it's easy to get lost for a very long time. I literally wandered around for more than an hour several times before reaching the right location. Everything is very unclear. It's tricky to find doors, exits, tunnels, and other vital areas. Both games could use more background music and I noticed some pacing issues. The gameplay becomes somewhat repetitive and it seems like the main stories could be slightly shorter. After a while, the puzzles, combat, and missions look the same. It seems like Return to Arkham is a mixed bag. Most comic book fans and gamers will probably enjoy this collection, but it definitely has some issues. If you want try this collection, go ahead. Universally, the Batman: Arkham series is considered one of the greatest comic book adaptations in gaming, according to critics and the general public. I find these games a bit overrated, but that's just me. That should keep you guys busy for a while. What kinds of games are you playing? Are you looking forward to the Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5? Leave a comment. I haven't decided my topic for next week, but it will be something interesting. Please, be safe and responsible. We'll be done with this pandemic a lot faster if people stay home and avoid the partying or traveling. Thanks a lot for visiting and come back again next week. Have a good night!
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May 2019
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