Although the game makes some concessions here and there to allow for a co-op partner — Radagast enters Dol Guldur with Gandalf, a disoriented goblin accompanies Bilbo Baggins for his encounter with Gollum — it does a good job of turning most of the films’ signature events into enjoyable levels.
Video Game Review: LEGO The Hobbit Read Post »
The main campaign on its own lasts 12-to-15 hours, though there’s plenty in this fake Seattle to keep you occupied. Side quests involve any number of tasks — beating up street musicians gives you bad karma, while busting drug deals gives you good karma. The level of enemy control in each of the game’s districts is tracked by a percentage, and many different things can help lower this: destroying security cameras, making spray-paint art, hunting down secret agents, destroying DUP facilities, and more. The more you liberate a district, the fewer confrontations you’ll deal with while traveling.
Video Game Review: Infamous: Second Son Read Post »
It’s unencumbered and makes for smooth, fast-paced action as you’ll quickly learn how to shift on the fly for maximum carnage. Our only real frustration was that we’d inevitably overclock enemies when we had no intention to, wasting EP in the process. Considering that you have to enter sub-menus to employ healing items or in-world EP abilities (such as teleporting) it seemed odd to have overclock in such a high traffic position on the controller.
Video Game Review: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Read Post »
The new options screen provides interaction with the in-game smartphone (dubbed the iDroid, in a bit of double trademark infringement). From here, you can access the map, notes, and any in-game audiologs you’ve collected along the way.
Video Game Review: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes Read Post »
Weapon accuracy is excellent, whether firing any of your three equipped guns or throwing grenades, with an undeniable sense of satisfaction. Your support kit is easily deployed via the left bumper, and the cool down timer feels long enough to prevent overuse but brief enough that you can still employ it with regularity. Add the d-pad to toss basic commands at your auto-piloted Titan and you’ve got a nearly flawless setup.
Video Game Review: Titanfall Read Post »
Paired with that strong narrative is the excellent sphere grid leveling system. Here, each character begins at a specific point on a massive grid surrounded by class-appropriate nodes. These can then be activated by moving to an adjacent point and using the correct sphere (power spheres for strength and hit point bonuses, ability spheres for new skills and so on). It holds up incredibly well in creating a feeling of perpetual advancement, and there’s a fair amount of freedom for customization once you move past the early stages of development.
Video Game Review: Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster Read Post »
Surprisingly enough, this Nintendo 3DS title is not presented in 3D. But it shouldn’t be that big of a deal, right? Well, the cut scenes themselves consist of static images with text appearing on screen. Here, they drag on for a very long time and can be painful when there’s nothing exciting or enjoyable to watch. Then when you jump straight into the gameplay, you’ll quickly notice the grainy texture quality and bland environments. The graphics wouldn’t be that bad if the 3D effects were to kick in, but once you remove that it’s pretty much downhill from here.
Video Game Review: One Piece: Romance Dawn Read Post »
