Rise of the Tomb Raider – PC Game Review

I had been looking forward to playing Rise of the Tomb Raider since it was announced, and decided to pick it up on steam, because it was on sale for fairly cheap! I can’t remember the exact price, but it was cheap. Did it live up to my expectations?

Here’s the thing about ROTR: It’s very much like the original Tomb Raider. It doesn’t really bring anything new to the table! In fact, the graphics are very similar to the graphics found in the original Tomb Raider PC Release(We’re talking about the reboot of course, not the very first original Tomb Raider game). This isn’t a bad thing! The graphics in the original were absolutely breath-taking! I am completely happy with the graphics in both games, but it does leave me confused on why ROTR requires such a beast of a computer to run! The game is currently one of the current higher requirement games out there, and I just don’t understand why. Granted, I am not a game developer, so there is probably much that I don’t understand.

As I said, a lot of the game is very similar to Tomb Raider. This statement also includes gameplay mechanics. There are very few new tools at your disposal, The few new tools that DO exist don’t even come into play til toward the end of the game, and even then aren’t that interesting. It boils down to the same Ledge Climbing, Rock Scaling gameplay as the original. Complete with sliding down snowbanks/waterfalls and having to move left and right to avoid obstacles.

What the game DID do right however was the storyline! It had a very appealing any interesting storyline the focuses on an artifact that can grant eternal life. It also has an evil group which is a secret society who is seeking the artifact for themselves, and a group of rebels who are trying to keep the artifact from falling into the wrong hands. It has some twists, Moments of betrayal, Moments of loyalty…It has everything you could want from an adventure story of this type.

One thing that might upset some people, is that Rise of the Tomb Raider doesn’t have a multiplayer mode. What it does have instead is an expedition mode.I haven’t really mucked around with expedition mode too much, but it seems to offer you a variety of different modes that let’s you replay chapters of the story, while also giving you the option to increase or decrease difficulty through the use of cards which can be purchased using an ingame currency(Or using real cash apparently). Personally, I don’t find the lack of a PVP based multiplayer game disappointing at all. I love the fact that a game company still focuses on the creativity and story based captivation of the single player campaign.

Don’t get me wrong, I like when a game has both a rich and full single player campaign as well as a PvP mode. It’s just that more often than not developers go the lazy route and just toss in some half assed single player campaign that is completed in a half hour and basically serves as a tutorial for the online game mode. Other developers even go the more incredibly lazier route and toss out the campaign mode all together and stick you with a multiplayer only FPS, that when the servers eventually go down, or people quit playing..you are stuck just running around shooting bots. At least with a campaign, you have that to fall back on when the servers are gone.

Speaking of rich storylines! Rise of the Tomb Raider is an incredibly long game! It took me 22 hours to complete it, and that’s just the main story. That’s not including all of the optional tombs and side missions. I did a few of them, but there’s still plenty more for me to go back and do! There’s also the expedition mode which as I said before I have only lightly dabbled in.

Now, this long storyline might be good or bad. Depending on your view. I loved the game and the story, but even I was getting to the point where I was wishing the game was just over. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing I suppose. Like I said, I enjoyed the game. but 22 hours is a long time to find out what’s going to happen. For me, the perfect length of a main campaign is about 15 hours. Any more than that, and my attention starts to wander. This is mainly due to my ADD, so it may not apply to you.

Overall though, it was an enjoyable game. If you were a fan of the last Tomb Raider game, or the Uncharted game series(Which the gameplay shares similarities with) then you will most likely enjoy this title.

PROS
-Gorgeous Graphics.
-Long and in-depth story.
-Many Side missions to keep you occupied.
-Decent replay value
-Flawless gamepad support
-Impressive voice acting & Mocaping.

Cons
-No PvP based Multiplayer
-Game might be TOO long for some players.
-Micro transactions.
-High system requirements

Overall score: 7.5/10

The Division – Game Review

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last few years, you have no doubt at the very least heard whispering about an upcoming game called “Tom Clancy’s: The Division“. Just in case you actually have been living under a rock (In which case, I am really sorry..that was a poor taste joke!) let me give you the brief run down! The Division is is a Massively Multiplayer 3rd person cover based shooter with RPG elements. The game is released from Ubisoft, under their Tom Clancy brand, and is one of the most highly anticipated game releases of 2016. It’s being released on multiple formats including PC, Xbox One and PS4.

Personally I picked it up on PS4, because I prefer playing certain games on a console(3rd person shooters being one of them). Some things to be aware of though, the PC version of the game requires a beast of a computer. If you aren’t sure if your system could handle it, you could always check on Can YOU run it and see what it says, though to be fair CYRI isn’t always very accurate. According to it, my computer can’t play Rise of the Tomb Raider, but not only can I play it, but I run it on the highest graphic setting.

You play a character who is basically a sleeper agent who is activated when a major attack happens on New York. You run through a very detailed recreation of New York City, and help people when you can. This help comes in the forms of missions where you rescue hostages, reclaim food and aid drops that have been stolen by gangs, protecting the people from riots, or even just giving them food/water/first aid kits when a person approaches you on the street randomly and asks for aid.

Along the way you can craft, buy and find better equipment or cosmetic items to help you customize your look so that you stand out from the rest of the playerbase. These items really are important too if you don’t want to look like every other agent in the field, because unfortunately there aren’t very many options while creating your character(At least for males, i haven’t tried female character creation, because I’m a male)..So, there’s a good chance you are going to bump into people who look a lot like you…that’s when the cosmetic items come in handy!

You begin the game in Brooklyn, which serves as a tutorial area of sorts. Once you secure/stabilize that area you are sent off to a more dangerous location..Manhattan! That’s where the game actually begins. It’s also the area that people involved in the open and closed beta tests experienced, so it’s at this point when the game might get boring for some, since they have already experienced a good portion of this early content.

The game seems to be, at least at these early levels, very solo friendly. In fact, your game world is mostly instanced, and you are alone on the city streets unless you group up with someone. There are public hub zones where you can meet up with other agents, and especially right now, finding groups is extremely easy. While the game can be done solo, there are certain main missions that are very difficult, and are much easier with a group.

Aside from the Main Mission the game seems to be packed with content, tons of side missions and encounters. basically enough to keep you constantly busy. The side missions are also very important! If you skip them, and just focus on the story missions you are going to have some problems. You do need to level up, you also need to bulk up your wallet so you can buy new gear, or at the very least find new gear so you live longer in the next portion of the story mission.

The game also does have some PvP, but I haven’t really focused much on it, I just dabbled here and there. PvP seems to take place in an area called the Dark Zone(Which incidentally is also where most of the best loot can be found. So, if you want the best equipment, you are going to have to brave that area eventually. Though I would recommend going with friends, people you can trust, cause the agents there looking to swipe your newly acquired loot? Odds are, they are working in groups too.

The voice acting is fairly good, though your character is your standard MMO “Strong Silent Type”, but the people you interact with do a fairly decent job of acting out their roles. This includes not just the main Characters, but also the quest givers and even the people on the side of the road just talking. Everyone does a great job, and I find that really impressive.

The gameplay is pretty much your typical 3rd person shooter. You take cover behind a wall or a car, pop out and fire off a few bursts of bullets at your enemies, duck back into cover and reload. Maybe toss out a grenade to spice things up on your enemies, especially when they are either clumped all together or dug in really good and you can’t seem to hit anyone with your spray of bullets. Basically if you have played a 3rd person shooter, you will get the hang of the play mechanics quite quickly. This is good, since it doesn’t have a huge learning curve. You won’t find yourself keeling over dead at every turn of the corner due to an allergic reaction to bullets.

The story is overall pretty decent! I don’t want to delve to much into it, so as to spoil it. However what I can say, is that it seems to be a pretty solid storyline. At least so far. Things might get weird and crazy and boring as the game progresses, but for the moment it’s got a good solid plot.

In fact, my only complaint is the name. Not so much the name I guess, but the brand. It’s branded under the Tom Clancy label, which I don’t really get. The game isn’t based on any existing Clancy book or story, and it isn’t even set in the Tom Clancy Universe. So, basically it isn’t canon to anything released with the name Tom Clancy on it. So, why bother with the brand? If it’s not set in the Clancyverse, and in fact has no connection to anything written by Tom Clancy, why does it have his brand? I’m sure there is a reason, I just don’t know it.

When all is said and done I believe the game is pretty great! I would totally recommend this game to anyone who loves MMOs or third person shooters in general.

Overall Score: 9/10

Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock review

What’s the worst game ever released? Up until today I would have said E.T. for the Atari 2600, a game that I am sure most people who have had the chance or misfortune to play it, would agree is quite bad.

However, today I played a game that actually outbads ET in the stinker department! The game is Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock, and the game sucks so much ass that it isn’t even remotely funny!

Let me say up front, that I am a huge Doctor Who Fan! I have loved Doctor Who for as far back as I can remember, and while not a huge fan of Matt Smith‘s portrayal of the Doctor, I still watch it, because it’s Doctor Who! What I am getting at, is that there isn’t much they could do, that would turn me away from the good doctor.

A few years back, they released a series of episodic point and click adventure games, centered around Matt Smith’s Doctor and “Amy Pond“. I loved those games! So, when “The Eternity Clock” was released, I picked that up. Now, normally, I won’t touch a game unless it has a Demo, because I am a careful game shopper, but again, this was the Doctor, and I loved the other games!

First off, this game is NOTHING like the episodic series! So, if that’s what you are expecting, sorry to disappoint. The game plays kind of like a side scroller game, with some puzzle solving and stealth elements.

Allow me to go into further detail.

When I say Puzzle solving, I mean very basic puzzles, they aren’t creative, and just seems kind of forced. They don’t offer much of a challenge in of themselves, the challenge is working against an impossible time limit, that requires perfect execution of the puzzle. Normally not a bad thing in a game, except that you have to also realise that this game has some horrible controls! Aiming your sonic screwdriver is not very accurate, and many times will take a few tries to acquire a target, which takes away precious seconds, which is essential when you are working against a very demanding clock.

Now, I also said it had stealth elements, but let me clarify. Have you ever played Splinter Cell for the mobile phone? It’s very much like that. Crouch and sneak up behind enemies and disable them. Press up at darkened doorways to step into them and not get seen. run past the search lights that just go back and forth.

That’s the stealth im talking about. Basically the game plays like a bad cell phone game.

That being said, in terms of graphics? The graphics are horrible! Especially when compared to the years older episodic games! One would think they would have improved the graphics instead of worsening them.

The sound? That is actually pretty damn good! It has the actual actors reprising their characters roles, and the music is of course very whoish. Everything audiowise screams Doctor who!

Overall however, I would say the game is garbage, and just like ET, took a good IP and managed to turn it into a steaming pile. Bad graphics, horrible controls, ridiculous time requirements(Combined with the controls) and chock full of bugs!

What? I didn’t mention the bugs? Those are there a plenty, which adds to the frustration! Cutscenes won’t start when they should, thus causing the game to be unable to continue unless you restart, and the restart locations are few and far between! Not only that, but during the one player game, occasionally River will become unresponsive and just stand there, not follow or engage in any interactions. It’s almost as if this game wasn’t beta tested. Kind of like they rushed to produce a sub-par game, stuff it in a box, and say “Hey who fans! We have this wet turd that you will love, because it says Doctor Who on it!”.

On top of ALL this, the game developers are apparently quite confident that Who fans will eat up anything with Doctor Who stamped on it, that they plan on making this a series of games! This one being the first. Will they be as bad? I don’t know, to be honest, I won’t even give them a try.

One thing I did learn from this, is do not, under any circumstance buy a game without a demo, even when you are fairly sure you will love it!

Thanks for ruining Doctor Who for me Supermassive Games!

Related articles

• Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock review (digitaltrends.com)
• ‘Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock’ Review (gamerant.com)
• Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock (workgamesleep.wordpress.com)

Dragon Age

Have you played Dragon Age Origins yet? If not, how come? It’s one of the best cRPG titles currently available. Plus it’s available on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC and even MAC. Granted, at the moment it’s not available on the Wii, but any other system or platform and you are golden!

The game is fantastic. The story is incredible, the voice acting is top knotch, The level of character freedom is fantabulous. It’s got everything, but really what do you expect from Bioware? All their cRPG titles always end up becoming huge epic games, that future games will have to live up to. It’s what they do. Everything from Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire and Mass Effect. They have ALWAYS been defining game titles, and this one is no different.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying this title is perfect in every way! It does have it’s flaws. For instance, there aren’t a whole lot of locations in the game. However the areas are HUGE. This can be fantastic to a degree, it makes you feel like you are part of something epic. However, some locations tend to be repetitive. It does get frustrating running through a huge cavern system, where every section and every turn ends up looking like the turn you just came from. It also does get frustrating, playing through some of the REALLY large dungeons. Mainly because some of the dungeons take LONGER than some of the Epic Raid dungeons in popular MMORPGs. When a dungeon takes that long, I expect it to only take place in MMORPGs, not on a single player game.

So, yea! The game has it’s faults, but all in all I feel the pluses outweigh the negatives. I also firmly believe if you love cRPG titles, and love any of the other Bioware games, that you will love this game despite it’s few faults.

Neverwinter :O

I have recently begun playing a computer RPG called Neverwinter Night. The original one, not Neverwinter Nights 2, although I did pick that up when i bought the first one. However, I wanted to play the original before digging into the next one. Yes, I know the second game doesnt require first game knowledge. However, it doesnt really hurt either.

Anyway, I have been playing this game and I must confess I am totally hooked on it! The game reminds me a LOT of the original Everquest game(Which oddly enough Neverwinter Nights 2 reminds me of Everquest 2. I may not be playing NWN2 first, but im not silly either I did make a character and fiddle in the tutorial section). Not just in graphics either, but also the setting. Combine that with NPC spell casters just standing around making glowing particles surround themselves. This isn’t a bad thing, I am a huge fan of the Everquest games. In fact the only thing I didnt like about EverQuest was the fact that the game wasn’t story oriented. Neverwinter Nights however obviously IS story oriented. Thus it ranks up as one of my all time favorite games EVER.

So, some of you might be wondering what made me decide to play this game after OH so many years. To be honest, I have always wanted to try this game, however the idea of having a buttload of henchmen, group-guys or whatever they are called put me off. Controlling several people in a real time combat situation did not interest me, however someone informed me, that though the battles might be realtime, you could pause the game easily and take your time finding what it is you want to use. I was also informed that I don’t exactly control the henchmen. This then got my interest in the game renewed!

I purchased the game, and now I have to force myself to quit playing. Granted, I am not very far along. I have barely finished the prelude, and quelled the prison riot. My last known location is outside the gates of a district over run with zombies. A freakin’ ZOMBIE invasion! That right there gives the game a spot in my heart. Looking forward to experiencing more of this game too!