The Irrational Zone

A blog about Video Games, Movies and other stuff that comes to my hyper and warped mind.

[theirrationalzone]

Yakkin ‘bout Games: Wolfenstein: The New Order

Yakking ‘bout Games is a series where I talk about games that I’m currently playing or have just finished. It can be new or old, console or PC, good or bad, it really doesn’t matter. If it’s a game worth talking about, you’ll see it covered here.

I think it’s fair to say that the FPS genre has enjoyed a bit of a renaissance over the last decade and a bit. The modern military shooters that dominated the late 2000s and early 2010s have become less common. We have seen the return of classic franchises like Doom and Half-Life, and we have also witnessed the influx of “boomer shooters” like Dusk and Amid Evil. A lot of cool stuff indeed.

With that being said, let’s take a trip back a few years. 2014 to be exact.

This was the first year of the (then) brand spanking new PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The two consoles were not off to the best of starts though. Their early exclusives like Killzone Shadow Fall, InFamous Second Son, Forza Motorsport 5 and Dead Rising 3 had failed to impress. The only games picking up the slack were multi-platform releases like Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag. The only FPS games available at the time (other than Killzone on PS4) were Call of Duty Ghosts (dull as dishwater) and Battlefield 4 (I enjoyed it but it was completely broken on release.)

Not exactly the most exciting of times for an FPS fan on console.

Wolfenstein: The New Order finally came along that May. It had been announced the year prior but it didn’t have much fanfare behind it. The initial E3 showing didn’t really impress anyone and there wasn’t really a great excitement for the game’s release. Perhaps it was because the previous Wolfenstein game was largely ignored by people or maybe because people were skeptical due to the game being MachineGames’ (the developer) first effort. People needn’t have worried though. The game turned out to be a massive surprise. It ended up being one of the best of that year.

Why am I covering this now? It’s because I recently got the urge to play it again after all these years. Plus I wanted to see how it would function in a post modern Doom world. So with that in mind, let’s get psyched and see how the game holds up.

Never has a smile brought terror to my heart so fast. Well this and my last dental appointment...

The New Order is set in an alternate universe where the Nazis won World War II due to their advanced technology being too much for the Allied forces. After an operation to try and assassinate the spearhead behind this growing technological evolution goes horribly wrong, Captain William “B.J.” Blazkowicz ends up taking a piece of shrapnel to the back of the head which puts him into a vegetative state. He ends up spending fourteen years in a Polish mental asylum before finally being awoken again due to witnessing a horrible atrocity committed by the Nazis. B.J. is now in the alien world of 1960 where the Nazis rule over the world with an iron fist. It’s up to B.J. to link up with the remnants of the Resistance and take the fight back to the Nazis once and for all.

The story was and still is one of the most surprising elements of The New Order. It paints a brutal picture of a world controlled by an evil and ruthless force who will stop at nothing to assert their dominance. The cast as well are very memorable. You have the plucky and likable Resistance fighters who you get to spend quite a bit of time with. You then have some memorable encounters with the evil figureheads of the Nazi regime at certain parts of the story. Anyone who has seen the train sequence in this game knows exactly what I’m taking about. I have to give MachineGames credit as well for the characterisation of B.J. himself. They managed to turn a character who was known for being a badass Nazi killer to a very sympathetic and likable Nazi killer. B.J. in this game is weary and tired after years of fighting evil and tyranny at every corner. The man wants nothing more than for the war to be over so he can hang up his guns and finally settle down. How could you hate the man after hearing something like that?

B.J. is such an upstanding guy that he would infiltrate a Nazi controlled train just to get you some coffee. Liberation and a Cappuccino, you can’t beat it. 

The real bread and butter of The New Order though is the gameplay. It has held up fantastically for the most part. Combat is a blast thanks to the very meaty arsenal at your disposal including assault rifles, shotguns, marksman rifle and a Laserkraftwerk which allows you to blast enemies to smithereens. You’ll have plenty of enemy types to cut through including rank and file soldiers, big mech suit soldiers with heavy weaponry and robots that have massive lasers. B.J. has a few abilities though to help turn the tide of battle. Leaning is one such ability and it’s implemented very well. How it works is that if you hold the L1 button, it locks B.J. in place and you can then use the left stick to lean at different angles. It’s super useful. Earning a well placed few shots at a Nazi from a very awkward angle never gets old. B.J. also has the ability to dual-wield certain weapons to deal even more hefty damage to his foes. Press up on the d-pad and prepare to bring the carnage. While this is a pretty fun feature, it does limit your movement speed and it can result in you burning through ammo quite quickly. It also is restricted to two types of the same weapon. You can also find upgrades for weapons which give them different ammo types and fire modes. The Laserkraftwerk, for example, can be used to cut through certain boxes and materials which is pretty nifty.

In terms of how health works, it’s a hybrid between classic pick-ups and regeneration. You can recover health by picking up health packs and food throughout the game. Armor can be found as well to allow you to take some extra damage. If you take health damage and managed to find cover, you’ll eventually get 10 health points back. You also have the ability to overcharge your health. How this works is that if you end up picking up a health item that takes you over your max health, you get higher health points for a brief period which is quite useful. You can increase your max health by finding hidden health upgrades throughout some of the levels.

AI is decent for the most part. They will attempt to find cover in the heat of a firefight and they do try to flank you. Some of the heavy soldiers will also attempt to rush your position. I certainly didn’t notice any unusual behaviour from them. Boss fights are a bit unremarkable for the most part. The game pretty much spells out how to take them out and they don’t really put up much of a fight. The main exception being the final boss but even then, it really isn’t that hard.

The secret painting boss fight was an interesting idea though. Definitely a canvas for them to work on in the future. (Apologies for the bad pun and joke.)

The game does have a basic stealth system and it works fine. When you enter most of the areas in the game, you will be informed that there are two commanders in the area. Take them out without being spotted and you can sneak through the area without having to worry about reinforcements if you get spotted by an enemy. You can take down enemies stealthily by using a silenced pistol, throwing knives or by sneaking up to them and performing a takedown. Stealth can feel a little overpowered during some of the early sections because the pistol is super accurate and it only takes one headshot to take some of these enemies down. The game does balance this a bit better later on as areas are populated with more elite enemies that harder to kill without being spotted.

Being a Wolfenstein game, you would expect exploration to be a big part of the gameplay and it does play a part for sure. There are hidden areas to be found with collectibles such as the Enigma codes which can unlock new difficulties and cheat codes. You can also find hidden max HP upgrades and other stuff as well. Maps can be found in each level which will indicate possible hidden secrets with a question mark. Levels are definitely more linear than some of the prior Wolfenstein games so don’t expect huge hidden areas or levels.

Key and item hunting still exists of course. You will find doors that require a key or a tool needed to progress which requires a bit of skulking around to find that key or item. You see this especially in the Resistance HQ sections which occur after most of the levels. In these sections, you will be tasked with finding a certain item for a character to progress to the next level. There are also side missions where you can do the same thing for other characters in the HQ and completing these unlocks extras such as artwork. I’m mixed on the Resistance HQ sections overall. On the one hand, they’re good from a lore perspective because you can overhear conversations from some of the characters and there are newspaper clippings and notes to find which do a good job of building up the world. On the other hand, they do feel a little bit like filler. Swings and roundabouts, I suppose...

I don’t really have many issues with the gameplay as a whole. My only real gripe is how the weapon wheel works. Weapon wheels are commonplace on console because a controller doesn’t have many buttons when compared to a keyboard. Makes perfect sense. The New Order’s one however can be such a temperamental thing to use. How it’s supposed to work is that you hit the R1 button to bring up the wheel and then you use the right stick to pick the weapon you want. Sounds simple enough. In reality what happens is that the game ends up giving you the wrong weapon time after time. I can’t even begin to count the amount of times that I tried to switch to the assault rifle and the game switched me to the dual-wield pistols instead. It can be a bloody nuisance. Part of this is down to how sensitive the stick is when using the wheel. It’s way too fast. Also why do the dual-wield options even need to be there? You can already hit up on the d-pad to dual-wield a particular weapon plus I didn’t really need to dual-wield all that much so it’s just clutter. They could have cleaned this up a lot better. I also had issues with swapping back to the previous weapon. It would sometimes default back to the Laserkraftwerk even though it wasn’t my previous weapon. Thankfully these issues didn’t get me killed but they certainly got on my nerves a little bit.

Textbook schadenfreude here from one of the villains. Shouldn’t be that shocked really...

From a graphics point of view, Wolfenstein: The New Order still holds up remarkably well. It runs on the same idTech engine that powered Rage before it and it certainly looks great. Character models are well detailed and they animate well. Cutscenes are well framed and the angles are perfectly done. Environments are beautifully crafted with amazing detail so whether you are in rainy soaked London or even the friggin’ Moon, you feel immersed in the world of the game.

I wasn’t kidding about the Moon. Look Ma, I’m in space! (In a video game...)

The game is quite aliased on the consoles. You definitely see sharp and jagged edges at times. Plus the textures look a bit low-res when viewed up close, but the game still looks great, and I imagine the PC version cleans up most of this stuff anyway so there’s that.

Tumblr’s image compression doesn’t do this environment justice. Oh well. C’est la vie, I suppose...

I can’t fault the game’s sound though. All voice performances are pitch-perfect with Brian Bloom (the voice of B.J.) being the standout. The music is incredible too with a great balance between atmospheric tracks and hard edged ones when the action really kicks off. It’s composed by a guy named Mick Gordon. Don’t think he’s done anything of note since though.

In terms of length, you’re looking at about roughly 8-10 hours for a first time playthrough. There is replay value with the collectibles and the Timeline system. To briefly explain, the Timeline system is related to a choice you make at the start of the game which changes some of the characters you encounter during the game. It doesn’t drastically change much. The events remain the same. You just get some unique dialog and a scene or two. Not much else.

So as you can see, I think that Wolfenstein: The New Order is still a bloody good time. The shooting still feels great with some really meaty weapons, the story and characters are super engaging, and the presentation and sound still kicks some ass. It has some minor issues here and there, but this game is well worth experiencing. You can pick it up pretty cheap nowadays on most of the platforms and it does go on sale quite often.

It’s nice to go back sometimes and revisit a classic, isn’t it? 

Check back here soon for Part 2 of this where I take a look at The Old Blood. Until then, stay safe, folks!

[theirrationalzone]

My Top Ten Games of 2020

Let’s just address the giant elephant in the room from the offset: 2020 has been one giant mess of a year. Every event, every major moment this year just felt like the worst case scenario every time.

For a lot of us though, there was one saving grace: video games.

2020 has been a damn fine year for video games. From the return of certain classic franchises to some amazing new entries and experiences. Gaming really managed to thrive in a year where other entertainment mediums such as films and television struggled.

Let’s dive in and take a look at some of the games that made this year a lot more bearable:

10: Watch Dogs Legion

I’ve had a soft spot for Ubisoft’s hack ‘em up franchise for quite a while. I didn’t think the original was as disappointing as it was made out to be and I thought the second one was an underrated gem. When Legion was first announced, I liked a lot of what the game was setting out to do but I wasn’t ready to pull the trigger on getting it. I decided to give the game a chance in the end and I’m glad I did.

Legion might suffer from the same pitfalls that have plagued other Ubisoft enterprises, but the recruitment mechanic is one of the coolest systems I have seen in any game ever. The fact that you can recruit any NPC that you see on the streets of London and use their unique talents to complete your objectives is just an awesome thing in and of itself. Its depiction of London is also incredibly fun to explore and cause mayhem in. While I found the writing to be pretty subpar, the game quite buggy and the whole PS5 upgrade fiasco a farce, I still found Legion to be a fun open world experience overall.

9: Resident Evil 3

Resident Evil has been on a real hot streak as of late, hasn’t it? Ever since Capcom made a promise to its fans that the Resident Evil series would go back to what made it so popular in the first place, the series has gone from strength to strength. Last year saw the release of the RE2 Remake which was absolutely excellent in that it kept the spirit of the original while also taking a few liberties of its own. It was only a matter of time before RE3 got the same treatment and well... it did.

I’m just going to spit this out. It’s not as good as the RE2 Remake. It didn’t need to be though. I still think this is a good game that provides a satisfying and fun survival horror experience. It carries over a lot of the elements that made the RE2 Remake such an excellent game and in certain areas (especially the writing) it makes a few improvements. Plus the game looks absolutely stunning thanks to the RE Engine. It is quite short. It is missing quite a bit of content from the original game. It definitely isn’t as replayable as the RE2 Remake. I still had a blast with it though overall. If this really is a blip for the Resident Evil series, then it must be in a really good place right now.

8: Tell Me Why

Dontnod Entertainment have fast become one of my favourite developers in the industry right now. When I first played Life is Strange back in 2015, it felt like a revelation. It weaved a fantastic story with characters you genuinely cared for and took you to a place you never wanted to leave. I’ve enjoyed all of their other ventures since then such as the underrated (if quite janky) Vampyr and Life is Strange 2.

Tell Me Why is another venture that fits the Dontnod MO: A grounded emotional story with slight supernatural elements, a degree of player choice and a setting that makes your jaw drop. The major difference here is the game’s attempt to portray a transgender character. That’s nothing new in and of itself. It’s more the fact that it attempts to accurately portray a transgender male character which is a bit of a rarity in all forms of media. Transgender portrayals (from what I’ve seen) tend to focus on male to female rather than female to male.

I’m in no position to comment on whether the portrayal is accurate or not, but I got the impression that Dontnod really went out of their way to get this right. Their FAQ explains that they worked with GLAAD and the voice actor to get it as right as they could. That alone deserves huge praise, but I also loved the Ronan Twins’ story as they dealt with their harsh past and the uncertain future. The game was a delight from beginning to end and it just looks absolutely gorgeous to boot. Dontnod have done it again.

7: Bugsnax

One of the early delights of the last generation was a little ditty known as Octodad: Dadliest Catch. It was a fun little physics based affair which cast you as a octopus masquerading as a human. The game had a terrific sense of humour and it was just bloody fun to play. Young Horses (the developer of the game) kinda went dark after that. They only really resurfaced to release two bonus levels for that game and then they just disappeared again. Now we know why that was the case...

Bugsnax retains some of the qualities that made Octodad such as a memorable game. A great sense of humour and a unique gameplay hook. You play as a reporter sent to the mysterious Snaktooth Island to interview an explorer called Elizabert Megafig who has discovered these unusual creatures known as Bugsnax. After crash landing onto the island, you discover that Elizabert and her significant other have gone missing. It’s up to you to find out what happened while also documenting and capturing Bugsnax for yourself. Capturing the Bugsnax is a big part of what makes this game such a delight to play. As you unlock more tools to play around with, you can come up with different strategies and methods to capture these weird snack based creatures. It’s pretty awesome. Throw in a lovable set of characters to interact with and a beautiful environment to explore, and you’ve got one of the most lovable games released this year.

6: Mafia: Definitive Edition

The last few years haven’t been too kind to the Mafia franchise in my eyes. I really wanted to like Mafia III when it came out back in 2016. It was a sequel I waited years for and it did have some good qualities such as an excellent story that dealt with some pretty heavy topics, solid gameplay mechanics and an amazing licensed soundtrack. Unfortunately the game had one of the most tedious and boring gameplay loops I think I’ve ever seen in an open world game. It just got so dull after the first couple of hours.

This year saw the announcement of the Mafia Trilogy which was to be a celebration of the entire franchise with a remake of the first game, a remaster of the second and a re-release of the third. Half of this was botched with the remaster of II being poorly put together and the re-release of III receiving a broken patch. Things were looking grim for the remake...

As you can see by it being in this list, we were proven wrong. Mafia: DE is a fantastic remake that pays good lip service to the original while also expanding on certain elements. The story which follows the rise and fall of cab driver turned wiseguy Tommy Angelo is more fleshed out with new sequences and character moments that weren’t in the original. Gameplay still retains the solid shooting and cover mechanics of Mafia III and the driving feels absolutely excellent especially when you put it in simulation mode. Lost Heaven is just gorgeous to behold as well with its bustling neighbourhoods and beautiful countryside. I hope this is the beginning of a redemption arc for Hangar 13 and the Mafia franchise. There is a lot of promise to build upon from here.

5: Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise

Anyone who knows me personally or has followed me on social media for a while knows that I’m a big fan of Deadly Premonition. The 2010 cult survival horror hit pretty much encapsulates why I love video games with its lovable hero, an eccentric cast of characters and surprisingly solid mechanics considering the budget it was made for. It was definitely more than the sum of its parts.

When I found out that a sequel was being made exclusively for the Nintendo Switch, my jaw hit the floor pretty hard. I thought any hopes for a sequel were dashed when SWERY left Access Games (the original dev), and yet here we are. A Blessing in Disguise is a brilliant sequel to the zany original. It captures everything that I loved about the original game to a T while also improving in certain aspects. The story is more ambitious this time with it being both prequel and sequel. A lot of the gameplay elements have been improved. The combat benefits from better aiming controls and an upgrade system for both York and his weapon. Getting from A to B is less wonky (and more fun) thanks to the addition of a skateboard rather than a car.

While I do still think the original is better due to the more creative side quests, the more challenging difficulty and the fact that it functions better from a technical perspective, I’m still a big fan of DP2 and it deserves your attention. Here’s hoping that it makes its way to other platforms in the future.

4: Ghost of Tsushima

This last generation has been good for Sony and its Worldwide Studios. In the last five years, they’ve managed to produce hit after hit after hit. A definite far cry from the first year of the PS4 where they produced some dire exclusives. Infamous Second Son was one of these. Sucker Punch’s first effort on the console was very pretty and a good technical showpiece for the console, but as a game, it was boring and dull. I couldn’t even muster the strength to finish it. The standalone expansion First Light was a huge improvement in my eyes. It cut out a lot of the fluff from Second Son. I knew then that Sucker Punch would eventually give us something amazing. They certainly did in the end...

Ghost of Tsushima is honestly one of the best exclusives that Sony has ever produced. Giving us a brutal tale in the vein of a Kurosawa flick where samurai Jin Sakai is forced to betray his code in order to drive out the Mongol force that has enslaved his homeland; we have a story that is genuinely gripping from beginning to end with an incredibly powerful final duel to boot. The combat is incredibly fun with a brilliant combat system that is easy to pick up but challenging to master. Duels especially show the combat system at its finest. Upgrading your abilities genuinely makes you feel incredibly powerful as you begin to decimate enemies left, right and center. Stealth is solid giving you plenty of tools at your disposal and certainly changes up the gameplay a fair bit. Did I mention that Tsushima Island is one of the most aesthetically pleasing locales in any game to date? Well I’m saying it now. It is one of the most beautiful locales in any game to date.

I’m very excited to see where this new IP goes in the future because this first entry is just incredible. A must buy if you own or plan on owning a PlayStation 4 or 5 in the near future.

3: Astro’s Playroom

Memorable pack-in exclusives are a bit of a rarity nowadays. The last one that sticks in my mind is Wii Sports, and that was a long time ago.

Astro’s Playroom serves as the pack-in title for the PlayStation 5 as it is pre-installed on all units. It’s also my favourite exclusive for the console so far. The main reason for this is that Astro’s Playroom evolves past being just a tech demo for the console and its fancy new controller. It actually is a fun little platformer in its own right. It offers something different with every level. In one level you can transform into a giant ball and attempt to navigate some pretty tight platforms, and in the next, you take control of a rocket ship and navigate through corridors while also avoiding bombs. There is great variety here and to be fair, it shows off the potential of the new DualSense controller fantastically.

Plus the game is just one giant love letter to the PlayStation brand and the games that made it what it is today. You’ll see references to obscure PlayStation paraphernalia such as the Multitap and UMD discs, and also games like Final Fantasy VII and Silent Hill. The final boss of the game in particular is one giant callback to something you might remember if you got a PlayStation 1 back in the day. I won’t say any more, but it made me yelp in joy when I saw it. If you plan on getting a PlayStation 5 in the future, make this the first game you play. You won’t regret it.

2: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2

Activision have been on a roll in the last few years with the revitalisation of some of their classic franchises. Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon for example have enjoyed newfound success thanks to the excellent N Sane Trilogy and Reignited Trilogy. When it was revealed earlier this year that Vicarious Visions and Beenox would be resurrecting the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater franchise with a remake of Pro Skater 1 and 2, my heart skipped a good few beats.

The Pro Skater franchise means a lot to me personally as I have very fond memories of putting hours into 1 and 2 when I was a kid. Going through the Career mode with each skater, learning the gaps and getting used to doing manuals when they were introduced in 2, it’s all ingrained into me. I’m happy to say that this is probably the best remake I have ever played. It perfectly captures what made those first two entries so special. Each level is beautifully recreated with a ton of new details that serve to enhance these levels. The soundtrack includes all of your old favourites like Goldfinger’s Superman and Rage Against the Machine’s Guerilla Radio along with some fantastic new tracks like Less Than Jake’s Bomb Drop.

The gameplay definitely taps more into Pro Skater 3 and 4 territory with Reverts and Flatland tricks included. These tricks don’t feel out of place and the game does give you the option to play it legacy style if you want. It feels magnificent overall though. The physics are pitch perfect. Creating lines and large combos is still as addicting and rewarding as ever. Online leaderboards certainly tempt you to reach for the stars if you’ve got the ability. Career mode isn’t particularly long, but the pretty robust Create-a-Park editor and solid multiplayer suite should keep you coming back for more. I’ve already put dozens of hours into this and I have no intention of stopping anytime soon.

If my number 1 entry on this list didn’t exist, this would be my Game of the Year. As it stands though, this is a very close second.

1: Doom Eternal

How do you follow up one of the best first person shooters in recent memory? Basically turn everything up to eleven and then some. Doom (2016) was such an eye opener when it launched. It gave everything we could have ever wanted from a new Doom game: a whole planet full of demons to kill and some big guns to help them back to where they belong. It was awesome and an easy choice for my GOTY back in 2016.

I anticipated Doom Eternal with bated breath. The excitement was building but the nerves were building with it. How could it live up to the previous one? What if it makes the same mistakes as Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus? Thankfully my worries were unfounded as soon as I loaded up the game and was thrown straight into the fold with a Combat Shotgun and some entry level demons to destroy with it.

Doom Eternal is the FPS genre at its absolute finest. The levels are much bigger with more secrets to find and loads of demons to kill. Said demons are much more plentiful in their ranks and they move faster too. Fortunately enough, you have a huge arsenal to deal death to these demonic denizens from the depths of Hell such as the starter Combat Shotgun, the Plasma Rifle, the Ballista and even a giant sword known as the Crucible. Enemies now have weak points to exploit as well which can turn the tide of battle and it rewards accuracy. Before you know it, you’ll be entangled in a ballet of bullets, beams, blood and guts (HUGE guts mind you.) This game makes you feel like a hero at the end of every fight. It’s so satisfying.

Toss in a soundtrack that will get your blood pumping and your goosebumps raising along with environments that will make your TV or monitor look like a window to a scorched earth, and you have my Game of the Year for 2020. Well deserved for sure. I really need to get on that DLC.

To those of you who actually took the time to read all that, you have my heartfelt thanks. I really appreciate you reading this and I hope my choices made sense.

To those of you who just glanced at each entry and skimmed through the text, I don’t blame you for doing that. I still appreciate you taking a look anyway.

All that’s left for me to say is that I hope each and every one of you has a safe holiday season and I hope that the New Year will be better for all of us.

I’ll see you all in 2021. Stay safe and well, folks.

[theirrationalzone]

Yakking ‘bout Games: Resident Evil 4

Yakking ‘bout Games is a series where I talk about games that I’m currently playing or have just finished. It can be new or old, console or PC, good or bad, it really doesn’t matter. If it’s a game worth talking about, you’ll see it covered here.

Where do I even start with this one? Resident Evil 4 is one of those games that doesn’t really need an introduction. It’s a legend of the industry. A game that somehow managed to transcend its own genre to reinvent another. I could start with how it was supposed to be a more traditional entry in the series. I could discuss about it being part of the Capcom Five, a series of titles intended to be exclusive to the Nintendo GameCube which ended in complete disaster. I think it would be easier to just dive in, wouldn’t you agree?

Fair enough, Leon. We’re getting into it now.

After the Spencer Mansion (RE1) and Raccoon City (RE2 & RE3) incidents, the evil pharmaceutical organisation known as Umbrella are finished. All is right with the world. It doesn’t last long however as Ashley Graham (the US President’s daughter) is kidnapped and only one man is up to the job: former rookie cop turned badass secret agent, Leon S. Kennedy. Leon is sent to rural Spain to locate and secure Ashley, but it isn’t long before things go pear-shaped and Leon ends up being infected with a mysterious parasite.

To be fair, when have rescue missions ever gone smoothly in movies and video games?

I wouldn’t say the story in RE4 is the most complex or well delivered, but the dialogue and characters certainly hold it up. I’m convinced that the writers just sat around watching Commando when coming up with the dialogue for this. Some of Leon’s lines feel right at home in that style of movie and I love them. A personal favourite of mine would have to be his exclaimation of “No thanks, bro!” when first encountering one of the villains. The characters are also a delight. I adored Luis Sera, a very charming womaniser, Ada Wong, a femme fetale type returning from Resident Evil 2 and Lord Saddler, the grandiose leader of the evil cult that kidnapped Ashley. Of course I can’t forget The Merchant as well.

You’re imagining his voice right now, aren’t you? Me too.

To say that RE4 is just a survival horror game is overlooking what this game managed to achieve with its gameplay. It still keeps with its survival horror roots in that inventory and resource management is a key element. You don’t have a huge amount of inventory space at the start (though this can be upgraded) so you can only hold a certain amount of weapons, ammo and healing items. Meaning that you have be a bit smart with whatever you have. You can even play a little inventory Tetris to fit items in. You still solve puzzles and still have to hunt for key items in order to progress but what truly made this game stand out from the crowd was its take on third-person shooting.

Resident Evil 4 finally managed to crack the problem that so many third-person shooters and action games could not figure out. It managed to fix the camera perspective by having the camera always overlooking the main character’s shoulder even when aiming. This was a literal game changer. It finally allowed for more precision and less frustration which wasn’t possible before. It feels great. Firing a gun in this game is a treat. All the weapons feel fantastic to use (especially the shotguns) and as mentioned previously, the over-the-shoulder perspective allows for more precise aiming so you can shoot enemies in certain body parts which plays a huge role as certain enemies and bosses can only be defeated this way. Instead of a reticule, you get a laser sight on all guns which adds a little difficulty to the aiming.

The melee combat also gets an upgrade. It was pretty simplistic in the previous entries as it was supposed to be more of a fall back option if you used up all of your ammo. You still get a knife in this game which can be drawn to give enemies a quick slash which is useful if they’re downed, but you can also perform melee moves after staggering an enemy with a well-placed shot. These are pretty fun to pull off and can be instrumental in saving your life. The combat just feels fantastic and this game introduces so many different ways to deal with certain situations. Guns can even be upgraded in order to be even more effective with them dealing better firepower and higher ammo capacity.

There are problems with the gameplay for sure. It’s not too long before you encounter Ashley and have her tag along with you for a decent chunk of the game. Now generally Ashley isn’t too problematic to have around. You can tell her to follow you, hold position and even have her hide in certain spots and generally she follows these orders to the letter. The problem lies with her AI just deciding to do some daft things from time to time. I had numerous instances where she would stop following me while we were escaping from some enemies and would just cower allowing the enemy to grab and take her away. Thus the ever grating “LEON!!!” screech begins (no offense to her voice actress.) I feel that Silent Hill 4 did the whole escort thing better. Eileen Galvin wouldn’t do anything crazy (unless you gave her a weapon.)

She’s not best pleased with me after that last paragraph. I don’t blame her.

Then we have the Quick Time Events. Now generally I don’t have a problem with QTEs being in games. It’s a regular thing in games now, I can live with it. The ones in RE4 at times can feel a little cheap. Especially the ones that just pop up out of nowhere during a cutscene when you least expect it. Not cool, Capcom. Not cool.

I bet Indiana Jones didn’t have to worry about pressing square to run away...

Another issue I have is that some of the boss fights in this game do a pretty poor job of telling the player if their attacks are having any effect. It feels like you have to dump half your resources before they even flinch. This is a problem I’ve had with most of the games in this series and it still happens in the recent ones. It’s just not as bad. For the record, I’m not saying that the boss fights are near impossible, I’m just saying that I wish that certain bosses gave better indication that they’re being hurt by my attacks.

Resident Evil 4′s presentation is still excellent to this day. Obviously the graphics are showing their age (even more so when blown up to HD), but the enviroments are still striking and carry a great sense of atmosphere. I especially loved the look of the castle sections of the game. It definitely gave me a bit of a Devil May Cry vibe. (Makes sense. The two series are very much linked.)

Definitely gets the “S” for Stylish.

The cutscenes look good and are pretty well directed. The voice acting is really good considering when this came out. Plus I couldn’t fault the music and sound design if I tried. It’s always been an area where this series has excelled at.

The game has a very good length to it. I finished it in about 10-11 hours. There is reason to go back again since you unlock some weapons and costumes just for finishing the game. There is also the Separate Ways and Assignment Ada chapters (available on every platform except the OG GameCube version) which focus on Ada Wong and they add a good few more hours to the play time. Plus you have the highly replayable arcade-style Mercenaries mode which tasks you with killing as many enemies as you can within a time limit to earn the highest score possible.

Resident Evil 4 is just sublime. The combat still packs a punch even to this day. It feels amazing and it allows you to approach different situations in a variety of ways. The game also just manages to stay true to the traditional fixed camera angle survival horror entries that came before by sticking to the same core values that made those games so tense and engaging. It may have some elements that haven’t aged fantastically, but it still plays well and provides a great experience for any budding survival horror fan. It’s a shame that because of this game, the series went off the rails for a while as some of the next entries just focused on the action. (For the record, I liked Resi 5 a lot.)

Interestingly enough, Resident Evil 4 doesn’t really get any of the stigma that comes with that fact. It’s still beloved and important. Play it yourself sometime and you’ll understand why.

[theirrationalzone]

Richard Rambles about the New 2DS XL

Nintendo and I have had an on-off, off-on relationship for most of my life. 

I never owned an N64 or Gamecube. In fact, my first Nintendo system was the Game Boy Advance and while I had games like Super Mario Advance 2 and the surprisingly decent conversion of the Simpsons Road Rage, I barely used it. The PS1 and PS2 basically dominated my early gaming years.

I picked up a 2DS earlier (now a bit older and wiser) to finally experience the games I’ve been missing out on. I was happy to finally play Zelda Ocarina of Time and Dementium Remastered but the 2DS was really uncomfortable. My hands were in agony after 30 minutes of play and the L and R buttons felt really spongy. 

When Nintendo announced the New 2DS XL (a few days after I bought the 2DS, I have terrific timing) I was uninterested at first but I decided to get one and I’m glad I did.

The New 2DS XL is a massive improvement. Right from the get go, the console feels comfortable in the hands and the L and R buttons feel more definite. It even goes back to the old clamshell design.  The screen is wider and more clear. Games like the Phoenix Wright Trilogy look gorgeous on the wider screen. It also goes without saying that it comes with all the extra tidbits of the New 3DS. Sounds great so far, right?

Unfortunately, Nintendo decided to make some bizarre changes.

Firstly, the stylus is short and stubby which feels really uncomfortable in the hand. I get that it was designed for younger children but was the longer stylus really that much of an issue?

Secondly, Nintendo changed the position of the cartridge slot. Originally it was situated at top of the 2DS (Behind the top screen on the 3DS) but now they’ve put it at the bottom under a very flimsy flap. It’s very counter-intuitive.

Another small issue is that the top screen is very floppy. It doesn’t take much for the screen to flop. Not much of an issue unless you really enjoy shaking your console violently on a regular basis.

Overall, I’m really impressed with the New 2DS XL. It feels way more comfortable in the hand, the top screen is absolutely fantastic with brilliant clarity and the buttons feel much better. It’s a bit sloppy in some areas but in the end you are getting all the features of the New 3DS for a fraction of the cost. 

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a little virtual island to run.

[theirrationalzone]

The Evil Within Review (PS4)

Survival Horror in recent years has been dominated by first-person indie titles such as Outlast and Amnesia, I'm not denying the praise these games receive but I have yearned for a return to classic third-person survival horror games. Fortunately, The Evil Within scratches that itch and while it has a few problems both technical and gameplay wise, it's still an excellent game.

Story

The Evil Within is the brainchild of legendary video game producer and designer Shinji Mikami who was responsible for the creation of the Resident Evil and Devil May Cry franchises. The game puts you into the shoes of Sebastian Castellanos, a detective who is sent to a grisly murder scene at a mental hospital to search for some police officers who went missing while investigating the incident. Sebastian along with two fellow detectives are ambushed and they end up in a strange nightmare world where terrifying creatures roam and strange happenings occur. The story is quite good if a little convoluted at times. It tends to jump all over the place at times but once you piece it all together it makes sense. The characters themselves are bland and uninteresting, Sebastian himself is a typical gruff cop with a troubled past and just overall the characters just feel lazy.

Gameplay

The gameplay fares a little better than the story, in actual fact it's excellent. The game uses the over-the-shoulder camera that was popularizsed by Resident Evil 4 (which was also designed by Mikami) with a few advancements which makes it feel closer to Resident Evil 5 and 6 in a good way but The Evil Within has a few tricks of its own. There's a stealth system in the game which works surprisingly well and it's a great addition to the third-person survival horror formula and there is an upgrade system. While looking around the environment, Sebastian can find green gel which can be used to upgrade his abilities and his weapons, this is a great system and I like how it doesn't make you overpowered, you still feel threatened and helpless at times even with your upgraded abilities. I also like the idea of the matches, whenever you discover a body or you knock down an enemy, you can burn them with matches that you've found in the environment. I love this addition to the combat system, it really gives another option which could mean the difference between victory and death. My only issue with the gameplay is that it can be a little too scripted at times which I don't think fits with survival horror. It makes the game a bit predictable but overall the gameplay is excellent.

Graphics

Graphically, The Evil Within isn't much of a looker. It runs on the idTech 5 engine which was used to power Wolfenstein: The New Order and RAGE. Textures are low-res for the most part and character models are okay-ish but the environments look excellent and there is some great level design at times.

Sound

Soundwise, the game has an excellent atmospheric soundtrack and the voice acting overall is pretty good if a little phoned in at times.

Bugs/Performance

From a technical standpoint, The Evil Within (with the day one patch) is a bit up and down. The framerate aims for 30 FPS constant and for the most part it achieves that but it fluctuates and it can even go down to 20 at times. Without the patch, the framerate is atrocious, it hovers around 20 and can even go down lower than 15 FPS.

Length

The Evil Within has 15 chapters and is about 15-20 hours long depending on difficulty.

Price: €70.00

The Evil Within is a nice reminder of classic survival horror. It has some problems, but overall the game is worth checking out.

Pros: Well-written story with an interesting concept, fantastic combat, offers a good challenge, great atmosphere, great soundtrack and great level design.

Cons: Story is a bit confusing at times, framerate is pretty bad at times, a little too scripted at times and graphics are poor.

Final Score: 8.5/10

[theirrationalzone]

Blue Estate Review (PS4)

Developer: HeSaw    Publisher: Focus Home Interactive

Rail shooters are sort of a black mark in the gaming industry, they are looked down upon as relics from a past era and gamers feel that they don't belong in this generation of gaming. I don't feel that way, I actually like rail shooters, I think they are games that just try to deliver some simple, pure fun without being too complicated or too different. 

Blue Estate is the latest rail shooter to hit the market and it's the first to hit the next generation of consoles. It has lofty ambitions but does Blue Estate succeed? Yes it does mostly.

Story

Blue Estate's story follows two characters: Tony Luciano, who is the son of one of the major crime bosses in Los Angeles and Clarence, an ex-Navy Seal who is sent to clean up Tony's mess. The events of the game are narrated by a private detective named Roy Devine Jr. who is working on a case for a client who is connected to Tony Luciano. Blue Estate's story is pretty good and has a lot of funny moments but not all of the jokes hit the mark but if you enjoy dark comedy, you'll definitely get something out of the story.

Gameplay

There's no getting past that Blue Estate is a rail shooter but it has some unique ideas that bring more to the overall quality of the gameplay. The game's control scheme has you use the gyroscope on the DualShock 4 controller to control the cursor on screen and this actually works surprisingly well and it's a nice alternative to using a Playstation Move or the regular analog sticks. The only downside with control scheme is that you have to keep re-centering the crosshair but you get used to it. You also use the DualShock 4's touchpad to pick up health and ammo, open doors, do melee attacks and complete Quick Time Events. The game also has these mini challenges during the levels that give you extra points if done correctly. These are a nice addition and are a great way of earning extra points.

Graphics

Blue Estate runs on the Unreal 3 engine and looks pretty good. It has good textures and great enviromental design. Character models are alright looking.

Bugs/Performance

Blue Estate runs at 30 frames per second at 1080p resolution (The main menu runs at 60 for some reason.) and has no frame-rate drops. There are no bugs and glitches at least from what I've seen.

Replayability

Being a rail shooter, Blue Estate has the benefit of replayable thanks to its points system and online leaderboards. It also has an unlockable difficulty which you get when you beat the game.

Length

Blue Estate has 8 levels and is about 4 hours long.

Price: €20.00

Blue Estate is overall a fun rail shooter and has a lot of funny moments but it's let down by its price, it's way too much for a game of this length. If you feel like giving it a shot, there's a free demo on the Playstation Store.

Pros: Well-written funny story, great control scheme, shooting feels good, mini challenges are a welcome addition, graphics are good and has replayability.

Cons: Not every joke hits the mark, it's too short and it's too expensive for its length.

Final Score: 7.5/10

[theirrationalzone]

Started playing The Wolf Among Us and it is awesome. Bigby Wolf is a great character and like with Lee from The Walking Dead game you have to make decisions in conversation which shape his character. Extra point to his VA for giving him a tough, badass voice.

[theirrationalzone]

Richard Revisits... Fallout New Vegas

"Oh, give me a home where the bighorners roam. Where the mole rat and the fire gecko play. Where seldom is heard, a discouraging word, And my skin is not glowing all day."

These words were going through my head as I put the Fallout New Vegas disc into my PS3, these words reminded of how much I missed the wastes with it's mutants, radioactive areas and colorful characters. Fallout for me has had a special place in my heart because it's an RPG that makes me think about the decisions I make and how it will affect the world. I love the Mojave and the Capital Wasteland and I would do anything to help not hurt it but not everything is a black and white decision, they are grey areas and because of that you may end doing what you think was right but it was wrong.

As I loaded up my save, I was dropped into a laboratory in the Big MT from the Old World Blues DLC. I checked my trusty Pip-Boy and was reminded that I was searching for parts for the Sink, an AI that was missing a lot of key components. I began my search for these parts in the lab and I found one. I left the lab and went outside into the dusty remains of the Big MT and was immediately attacked by Roboscorpions. I tried to attack them but they were very powerful and I didn't have a lot of health so I ran. 

I went into a tunnel looking for the next two parts and was attacked by security robots so I equipped my trusty grenade launcher and took care of them. After I got those two parts, I went to the location of the final part which was guarded by even more powerful security robots and I got into a tense standoff with them, they managed to break one of my legs but this didn't stop me so I used the grenade launcher to take them out, popping out of cover every few minuted to take a shot at them. I won the battle with two HP bars remaining and got the final part. I made my way to my "safehouse" and rested so that I would fully heal. 

As you can see Fallout New Vegas can be a tense and atmospheric RPG and I love it. I think these lines from the New Vegas song Home on the Wastes sums up my feelings about this game.

"Oh, I would not exchange this home on the wastes, For all the big cities so wild."

[therpgminx]

Getting a tonne of comments atm on my adventure game videos going

A) Wow Minx your a genius

B) Wow Minx your definately using a walkthrough, CHEAT.

To person A, im really not that fucking clever it’s called editing and replaying sections for your benefit so theres not hours of me doing fuck...

[theirrationalzone]

The problem with horror games today and why it is not totally dead

A lot of hardcore horror gamers always complain about horror games just not being scary anymore, this is true and it's happening because companies like Capcom and Konami are trying to appeal to a general audience therefore the games are more action focused.

The best example of this is Resident Evil 6 which came out last year to mixed reviews but with a general fan consensus being negative. The game despite having a great story, great graphics and fantastic voice acting, became a shell of it's former self. It introduced terribly placed QTE's which were sometimes near impossible to complete also while Leon's campaign had some high points it's still didn't feel like Resident Evil. Chris's campaign felt like Gears of War and Jake's felt like a cross between Gears of War and Heavy Rain. 

The horror game genre is not completely dead, the PC indie gaming scene has some of the most atmospheric and scary horror games I've ever played. Games like Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Penumbra are showing that the horror genre is still well and strong at least on the PC scene but there is hope for the console horror scene. 

Silent Hill Downpour returned the now infamous survival horror series to it's roots while providing some new additions including side quests and the use of the Unreal Engine. Despite some technical issues it still gave a great protagonist in Murphy Pendleton and it immersed you with the best atmosphere that I haven't seen in the series in a long time.

We can only hope that more horror games like this will come out in the future but our next step is to make the companies realise that appealing to a general audience is not always a good idea.