Finally Dead Island Riptide had its release April 26^th, and I can tell you now that it was worth the waiting. The Dead Island franchise takes the zombie adventures on to a whole new level, and has a great showcase of freaks.

Story

So you thought the zombie nightmare was over did you? Well, you couldn’t have been more wrong. The outbreak on Banoi was just a small part of what to come, and another island awaits you full of new characters and surprises…

Welcome to Palanai…

Stranded on a new island you have yet again to fight your way out of the zombie mess, but this time you’re not alone. You suddenly have the “responsibility” of a whole group again since you’re the ones that are immune. This means that you have to find new areas for bases and gather items for the group, and get the moving out of the jungle. There is a twist to this though, you can gather items for the “team” so they can be upgraded for better defense and better store availability.

But why isn’t the outbreak only on Banoi? Well, you’ll get some answers but end up with even more questions during the story.

Gameplay

The gameplay is more or less much like the prequel, but with a few new things. Some of this new stuff is the new weaponry, you can now find firearms like assault rifles, shotguns and so on. This gives the player a whole new approach to get past the really tough zombies, but there’s a catch. Using the firearms will attract nearby zombies due to the loud sound, so you really have to be careful of where you use these weapons.

Weapons isn’t the only new stuff here, there are also new blueprints to match the weapons and of course new zombies. How cool is it that you can now create an electric firearm? It’s just awesome. Some of the new zombies can be a real pain to get through, but it’s all in the planning and approaches so it shouldn’t be too hard.

The fighting style has not changed at all, so you can still choose between analog and digital style whichever you prefer. This is a feature I really like, but that’s more or less that I prefer to use the analog style. It just gives you more control over how you hit and where, but it can take some time to get a hold of it.

Characters

If you’re one of those who played the prequel, you can use the game save from that point. This gives the players a really nice “boost”, as the character build and skill points you used are still there.

You can also try the new guy John, who is a hand to hand combat expert. Just like the other characters he has some really awesome skill moves, but some of them might be a little overpowered.

When you start a new character you get to choose if you want the game to add your skill points for you and in which tree, or you can choose custom and do it yourself. This selection only applies to the first 15 levels, also the first 14 skill points you get. What’s kind of funny is that you start at level 15 when you start a new character, so it’s only for this you have to choose.

The fact that you start at level 15 gives the player at least a chance to get it going right away, especially considering the start of the game. Of course it’s always nice to get a “bonus” when you start a new game.

Graphics

The graphics you’ll see in Dead Island Riptide are just beautiful. With its real like visuals and splattering scenes, it’s just a pretty sight. The Island itself is a really nice view, it almost want me to travel to places like that and just dream the day away. Of course without all the zombies that is.

Coop

I really like the coop system Techland have introduced to the Dead Island series, where players just can jump into one another’s game if they’re close enough. The “Just dropping by” coop ways are something other developers also should think about, and maybe take some notice as well. It’s just a little sad that they took away the local coop option they had in the prequel.

There is one thing I miss in coop and at the work bench, and that’s sharing the blueprints and the possibility to create your own blueprints.

Bugs

I did come across a couple of bugs during the gameplay. Not that it’s a big deal, but it can be really annoying. The first bug I come over was in the prologue. Suddenly half way the sound just vanished, I tried to restart my xbox and the same problem just popped up again when I reached the exact same area for the second and third time. So I ended up playing a part without sound just so I could get away from the bug. By the way, it’s the only sound bug I’ve came across, but it crashed the whole xbox sound system.

The second bug I ran into was at the work bench. For some reason when you create a weapon, you might lose the weapon you held last before you entered the bench.

Conclusion: This is one of the best, if not the best zombie game franchise I’ve played. Dead Island Riptide is a really great addition to the franchise, and it looks like Techland really knows what they’re doing at the moment. I would really recommend this game as for one of those you really should have in your shelf, but not as a dust collector.

Rating: 9/10 due to the bugs.

As the next game in the Dragons Dogma franchise I was looking forward for at least a partly new Gransys, butt this is not what you get with the “Dragons Dogma: Dark Arisen”.

Story

The story in Dark Arisen is a dark journey within Bitterback Isle, or to more specific, within a dark mountain with narrow space and new and tougher monsters. The Quest starts in Cassardis at the pier at night, but to get it started you have to play through the whole prologue, that also includes the part where you’ll get your main pawn.

At the pier will you meet a strange lady named Orla, she will tell you that she needs help and if you could be so kind and help her out. This takes you to the dark and cold Island Bitterback, where many hours of new gameplay and frustration lay ahead.

You actually don’t get much to go on to know what you’re up against, except for the title of course.

Gameplay

The gameplay is the same as before but with new enemies, items and upgraded graphics for those who want that.

I mentioned that your journey will be inside the mountain of Bitterback, and that you will be facing narrow areas and passages. What I didn’t mention was that it’s all in the dark except for some areas, which means that you’ll have to keep your lantern on at all times if you haven’t set the brightness at max. It’s too bad that this is the only type of areas you’ll ever see, unless you get back to the top at the entrance.

The monsters you find down in the cave system are as I also mentioned, tougher. This doesn’t apply to all of them of course, but many of them. It’s not just the new enemies you have to fear, but also the “improved” old enemies as the enormous Cyclops. They’re not only tougher and can take more damage than before, but they also deal a lot more damage as well.

New Items and weapons/armor can also be found in the deep ruins of Bitterback, and some of them are so badly cursed that it needs to be removed before you can use them. This is something Orla can do for you in exchange for some rift crystals, and it’s not cheap so it’s great that you can use your save from “Dragons Dogma” the one that released in 2012. You can also upgrade your gear past “dragon forged” when you meet “Barroch”, a guy that you’ll keep on meeting on your journey down the deep.

It’s a little far in between the save spots in Dark Arisen, but if you remember to save often you won’t have to go too far back over and over again. Capcom have still not added more save slots to the game, which means that whatever you do, do you have to live with until you start your next play trough.

Graphics

I also mentioned that the graphics have been upgraded, or at least for those who want it. Well, now you’ll get two disk for “DD: DA”, one for the game itself and one for HD upgrades and Japanese language installation. Both upgrades not something you have to install but it’s there if you want to. The HD upgrade is actually visible, it’s not the hugest adjustment but it’s enough to be noticed.

Except for what I just mentioned, nothing else is changed. Gransys are still Gransys, and “DA” could just have been a dlc instead of having the player buy the same game all over again with only a new area and some changes there…

Conclusion: I have to be honest and say that I really hoped for more than just this. I actually thought that maybe not all of Gransys where changed, but at least some parts of it or something like that. That since they came with an all new Dragons Dogma in the stores that you could expect more. Capcom should really have sold DA as a dlc instead of the whole game all over again, and I really hope this isn’t the future for the franchise.

Rating: 7/10 on DA.

Have you ever thought about what would happen if one of the heroes from the DC universe went bad, or maybe all of them? I have had this thought many times as I’m kind of a fan of both the Marvel and DC universe. I guess that the guys from Warner Bros have had the same thoughts, because they’ve now shown us that what can happen if they turn bad or at least can’t see the difference of good and bad.

Story

The Story is somewhat interesting with this scenario. This scenario takes place in two relatively alike parallel universes, only with a couple of differences that have a major impact on both universes.

In a strange way, the joker turns superman bad and filled with hate, anger, and sorrow. This is all because of what superman did under the influence of the joker, killed Lois and blasted Metropolis of the map.

After he kill the joker, he start to take control of the reborn city and sees himself as a god who must rule with an iron fist to have peace and no crime. The only problem is that the line of good and bad have become blurry in all his grief, and now kills everyone who tries to stop him or turn the rest to his side with fear.

But there’s one that have survived and have become the leader of the insurgency, and with some help from Luthor they pull the heroes from an almost identical universe so they can help stopping superman once and for all.

Gameplay

The gameplay in this game are really good, but it’s almost just as every other brawler out on the market. The only difference is that you can use the environment to improve your fighting against the opponent, this feature combined with the super attack combo is the reason why this game has an edge on the rest of the franchise.

I mean, smashing the opponent into the background so he/she bounces back and take major damage is an awesome feature. Also one of the super attacks like Batman’s is really awesome to watch as the finish of that attack ends up with the opponent being run over by the bat mobile. This and that you can kick the enemy out of the stage and into a new one is also awesome, and it deals a great amount of damage as well as it is awesome to watch.

Also another sweet thing is that since it is two of almost everyone, you’ll get some funny and interesting battles during the story.

Game modes

Injustice has 8 game modes, 5 for the single player and 3 for the multiplayer. The ones for the single player are of course the story, which is like a long and great DC movie. There’s also “Battles” where you can try different ladder fights, for instance you have the classic where you fight your way to the top of the ladder without any special requirements for the fights and so on. As I mentioned there are more battle modes within “Battles”, one is just hero fighting and other is villains only, and you also have modes where you’re damaged from the start or poisoned and just keep taking damage until the fight is over.

S.T.A.R Labs is where you can play “mini games” for each character, with their own little story and special things you have to do and get rewarded with up to 3 stars per game.

Single fight is just a 1 vs. 1 fight with nothing more special about it, and you also have the training where you can take the tutorial run and so on.

Multiplayer

The multiplayer part is very good, and free of lag. Even from the very start have Warner Bros been able to give the players a great start to challenge each other online, not just 1vs.1 but also added survival mode and my favorite “King of the Hill”. This is really a star in my book if you want to put it that way.

Player growth

Your profile will earn xp and get rewards upon completion of matches and so on. There’s not much you can do with the rewards and ranking except from showing of your customized character or hero card. Although some rewards from the archive can give you some extra xp bonus for a specific total of matches, but this kind of wraps it up.

Conclusion: Let’s face it, super heroes versus super villains is the ultimate brawler if it’s made the right way. I’m not only talking about the gameplay itself, but also the story needs to be good. And I have to say that this is actually the first brawler game I’ve played that have a really good story, and where you have to use more than just an hour to complete the story. I would go as far as saying that buying this game just for the story alone is worth it if you like these hero universes.

Rating: 9/10

Finally the waiting is at its end and Bioshock Infinite are here, and this time you’re taken to the flying city of Columbia. This flying city gives the game a whole new edge and of course whole new environments.

Story

The story take you (Booker DeWitt) on a journey through the flying city of Columbia to rescue a girl to clear of his gambling debts.

This is no ordinary city, it’s a city of a huge cult. They leader are none other than the prophet Comstock which seems to be a leader of greed, hiding his agenda behind god.

That said, it looks like it works as he keep his “subordinates” happy and free of any problems at all, or maybe they just live in denial. Who knows for sure, but it give the game a little strange feeling all over it.

Gameplay

Much have been changed since the prequels, you don’t have hacking anymore, but instead a vigor where you can possess both human and machine for a short period of time.

The real huge change is the environment, the fact that you’re now running around in open sky streets instead of locked down underwater city tunnels give you more of a free feeling. It also take away the creepy part with narrow claustrophobic areas where you suddenly can get jumped and so on, but then again it’s so much funnier to use the skylines to kill you enemy which is just another way to do it.

The girl Elizabeth you’re supposed to save have a sweet Snow White fairytale’ish personality, but even she will evolve during the story line. That’s not all, she will be aiding you through battle and locked doors. She will even find you some cash now and then, and the animation they used for the coin toss are really nice.

Another thing I really like about Bioshock Infinite, is the length of the story. It’s not a game you just run through in a couple of hours, like you can with other games, and the story are really dark. The great thing about the story is that you won’t see the darkness and how messed up it all are until you complete the game. Believe me, after you’ve completed the game, just think back and you’ll see.

Characters

The characters you’ll meet in this game are all different in their own way, which is a part of the quality. Even those you’re not supposed to interact with will speak to you and so on if you’re close enough, but usually they’re just talking amongst them self. The AI’s aren’t the smartest I’ve met, but you will often get the feeling of being overrun by them as they very often charge you.

Conclusion: This is a game with quality and made with care, at least that’s how it looks like. I would really recommend this to everyone in general, as it’s an experience you can’t miss.

Rating: 10/10

Finally the Sniper Ghost Warrior have released, and it fulfill its expectations.

This is a complete sniper experience without any ground assault and so on as it was in the prequel. Of course there are is a few times where you find yourself in a gunfight, but you won’t have to think about that too much if you play it right.

Story

You play Cole Andrews, one of the best and deadliest sniper in the elite unit Ghost Warriors.

Your mission is to take out a weapon supplier for the Al-Qaeda, and things are going relatively smooth, but as always in war. Things go wrong, and you’re suddenly have to save your team.

To really get into the story and not let the player off with a lot of questions at the end of the game. “City Interactive” have taken the story into earlier events and today’s events story in-game.

This timeline jumping are essential for the story to be complete, and it would probably have failed if they didn’t do it like this. The reason is that you will get the answers you got during the game, and it kind of made me feel the story even more.

It’s a story full of intrigues and betrayal which will be counted in dead bodies one way or another, and it make the story deeper.

Gameplay

The Gameplay itself are more or less like the prequel with the bullet velocity and so on but as I explained, this time it’s a sniper only experience.

The AI have been worked over as well, and now you won’t be spotted unless you actually want it. Even if you get the enemies attention with a missed shot, they actually have to spot you. This means that you for once actually work as a ghost, and if you’re spotted you can always hide and continue.

The Campaign are somewhat short, but it’s such a great story so it kind of makes up for it.

The “Boot camp” have been removed from the campaign and they’ve added a “Shooting Range” instead outside the campaign. This choice have its pros and cons depending on you’re a new player to this franchise or not. Either way, it’s a nice touch to have the shooting range available at any time, it’s a great way to improve your sniper skills.

The difference between “Casual/Normal” and “Expert” are huge. With “Casual/Normal” do you have all the aiming aid you can imagine, but with the “Expert” mode do you have to do everything yourself. Even the spotting and so on, and even though you have seen the enemy for spotting, they won’t be marked with the marker as it does in “Casual/Normal”.

Graphics

City Interactive have got their hands on the “Cry Engine 3” which is a great thing, and it give them even more options than before. It’s only a shame that they didn’t use the engine for what it’s worth. Don’t get me wrong, the graphics are nice and so on, but some of the animations could have been done better. This is actually just a small notice, but it’s worth mentioning.

Just for an example, the kill cam you get when you get a critical shot. The camera follow the bullet and show where you hit, but it would have been even more awesome if they also showed what the bullet does with the body. In example, a headshot with kill cam could show an x-ray cam of how the scull cracks and so on. It would probably take it to the next level.

Multiplayer

The Multiplayer only have one game mode, “Team Death Match”. It also only have two maps to play on, but this may because it’s a sniper game and not a run and gun game. When I started playing this online did it seem like “CI” had some difficulties with the servers, but this seems to be fixed and it now runs smoothly.

It’s an interesting way to play fps, with two buildings opposite to each other and filled with snipers shooting at each other. With only one way across over to the other building should it be relatively easy to hold the enemies back, or so I thought. In my first match my team crossed over to the other side and started to “base rape” the other team, which kind of take the whole sniping game out of the game.

I do miss a “My Player” section or something like that, and to be able to compare my score on the leaderboard with my friends.

Anyway, if you’re used to play sniper in other games like “Battlefield”, you might not have the same experience as I had. I really enjoyed the whole game experience, both the campaign and the multiplayer.

Conclusion: It’s a great sniper game, and it would suit most of the fps gamers around the world. The only downside is that the campaign are too short.

Rating: 9/10

I’ve always been a Metal Gear fan, but I wasn’t sure of what to expect and had some mixed feelings after I tested the demo of MGRR.

Have they taken the MG series to a whole new level?

Story:

This story are relatively simple, but yet interesting. It’s the good old “Good versus Evil”, but where’s the line? And where is it crossed? This is what makes this story so good, and it’s kind of hard to describe it in any other way. It has to be experienced to understand what I’m talking about.

The “hero” this time is Raiden as known from earlier in the MG series, but much has changed. Raiden have become a cyborg ninja with a sword, or maybe more of a “Katana” like sword that can cut through anything in its way.

War has been stabilized and there is peace even in Africa, but someone wants it different. For some people war is money and new jobs, which you will hear much about during the gameplay. So it’s your job to stop the new warlords from making total chaos and a new war.

The story also takes Raiden on a personal and very emotional detour, and it brings out his inner “demon”.

Gameplay

I’ve came to love this new MG play style as an overpowered cyborg ninja/samurai. It gives the player a whole new feeling about the series. The fact that you’re now a ninja, don’t take the stealth part away. In fact, it increases it, but you can of course go straight on without thinking of consequences if that’s your style.

It may seem like a brutal game, and it is. With awesome kill moves, slicing the enemies into pieces, ripping their spine out and more, it gives the game an edge I haven’t seen in a while.

Gears and Upgrades

As Raiden now is a cyborg, can you now upgrade him, his weapons and fighting style. For this you have to use “Battle Points”. BP is given in each kill and the better you fight and less damage you take, the more BP you’ll get. Upgrades can also be found in chests or in the arm of some enemies.

The AI’s

I just wish that they’ve made the AI’s smarter It would have made the game more challenging, but it’s not the worst AI’s I’ve seen either. Although you can kill an enemy right behind others, just as long as it’s not in the line of sight. I think a smarter AI would enhance the gameplay even further, at least if you’re going stealth.

Thoughts

I asked in the beginning of this review if they’ve taken the MG series to a whole new level. The answer is “yes”, this is now a mix of hardcore action and stealth of your choice. It’s actually a great hack and slash game, with a great story to it.

Conclusion: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is one of the better MG games in the series. It’s an epic action experience you can’t miss out on this year. Although the storyline are somewhat short, it’s a great one.

Rating: 9/10

First of I want to say that this was one of my highly anticipated games for this year.

Not since 2001 have the Aliens fans get a hold of a great Alien horror game, but this was to be changed when Sega announced that they’ve got Gearbox on their team.

The fact that Gearbox now was on board with this project gave me expectations of a great game that would have no other games above, or besides Aliens Colonial Marines. Unfortunately I was proven wrong. Instead of using their resources to make a great game like the Borderlands series, they outsourced almost the entire game to other developers.

Story

The Story takes you back to the origin of the Aliens story, Hadley’s Hope. This gave me an even higher expectation, although the beginning wasn’t too much to talk about. The Colonial Marines have come here to the aid as a response to a distress call from a marine on the original ship USS Sulaco, which has been moved back to orbit over Hadley’s Hope. What’s starting out as a recon/rescue mission becomes relatively fast a keep your own ass alive mission. This is of course the nature of the Aliens series, but the way this has been done is just an act of poor judgement of the fans.

The enemies

The Aliens are in my opinion somewhat too easy to kill. Instead of creating aliens that can take a beating, they’ve created hordes of easily killed aliens that try to overrun you. If that wasn’t enough, they’ve now also added mercenaries who try to kill you too, and you suddenly have to fight gunfire as well as aliens. Sometimes you have to do both at the same time.

This make ACM more like a pure action fps game than a freaky chilly horror game that make you suddenly jump in your seat. Which by the way was the idea I was looking for and had my hopes for.

Gameplay

The structure of the game makes you loose the great chilly aliens feeling, and it’s replaced by some lame Call of Duty and Doom 3 mix. I guess they wanted to reach the CoD fans as well to boost their sale, but I just have one question, why? This actually ruins the whole game experience for the true Aliens fans.

Another thing that bothers me is the short campaign. Yes it’s 11 missions you have to play through, but since the enemies are so easily defeated and the story are so linear it can bee done in just a couple of hours.

Multiplayer

Ok, so I thought that I should try the multiplayer versus mode, and thought maybe it’s here they’ve really put their skills to use, but sadly this is not the case. Of course the way of multiplayer modes are actually a refreshing new way to go, with aliens versus marines. I know it was done in Dead Space 2 also but they made it work. This multiplayer is just as bad as the campaign.

One of the reasons is the same as in the campaign, the aliens die too easy and are no mach for the marines. This apply especially for the low levels, it’s like the lower level you are the easier are you to kill, which means that you wont’ be standing equal to your enemies one way or another.

Thoughts

As I said, this was one of the games I was really looking forward to get my hands on this year. What should have been a freaky chilling and horror filled experience have now been literally “killed”. It hurts to say this, but as an Aliens fan I feel kind of insulted and disrespected.

Why make it like this? And who with the hand on their heart could clap the developer guys on the shoulder and say great job with this one?

The ending are open to a sequel, but if they going to make the next one as bad as this; don’t bother. The fans want to feel the chill down their spines and be afraid of what they’ll meet around the next corner. That feeling is the true alien feeling, and if you can’t give it, don’t try to make it.

I might be too harsh some might say, but as I stated; I feel insulted and disrespected by the developers for this Call of Duty: Colonial Marines.

Conclusion: This must be the worst Aliens game I’ve played. For the first time this is a game I can’t recommend to anyone, except for maybe the true CoD fans which says a lot about this game.

Rating: 2/10

The most anticipating games for me this fall was Borderlands 2 and Assassin’s Creed 3, and I was right too. Assassin’s Creed 3 have been improved in so many levels that it feels like a whole new game series, the biggest reason for this is the new game engine Anvil.

Story

The story is the same as it’s always been, the Templar’s vs. the Assassin’s. The only difference is where the story happens and the content of it, and it surprised me of how good the story actually came to be.

The prologue begins in 1754 in London where you play as Haytham Kenway, a British noble that seeks new opportunities in the new land of America. I won’t go into too many details about him as there is a huge surprise I won’t ruin for you.

In the main story you’re playing as the Mohawk Indian Connor or Ratonhnhaké:ton that is his real name, but it was clever to change it to Connor during the story. The Templar’s burned down Connor’s village and with it his mother and other as well, this take him from being just a little child to grow as a man really fast. What’s cool is that you will be playing Connor in three different ages, which give the story real good depth.

Connor decides he have to leave the tribe to be able to protect it from the templar’s and other dangerous groups, but he have been told he have to seek out the mark of assassin’s if he want to help. This is how it all comes to getter and how he becomes an assassin and all of his training in the forest makes him a great recruit.

Features

-          Aquila and sea fights

-          Tree climbing

-          Easier combat technique

-          New fighting moves

-          Moving assassinations

-          Improved assassinations from hiding spots

-          Free running improvements.

-          Weather system

-          Animals

-          Easier and faster fast travel

-          Revamped the map

-          Lock picking

-          Accounting book: Stock Pile, Crafting, Trading

-          Anvil

Aquila

Also during the story and side missions you will be the captain of the ship Aquila. With this ship will you experience great sea fights and also with bordering of other ships as well. This is a cool new gameplay feature, but it couldn’t have been without it.

Tree climbing

This is a cool new feature that allows you to interact with the world in a new and improved way. I have to say I was a little sceptical to this feature as I’ve always thought it was clumsy enough with the rooftop climbing, but this feature have been worked for the better and it’s surprisingly easy to climb the tree’s and not to mention run in them.

Easier combat technique and new fighting moves

The combat technique have been improved for the better, it’s now easier to target the right enemy and easier to get in and out of fights. The fighting it self have also been improved for the better, the deflecting and counter attacking is much better and now using new weapons give you more combos and styles. Especially using two weapons make it really awesome to see what kind of combos you can do, and not to mention the way you can disarm your enemy. Another really cool fighting feature is that you now can use your enemies as living shields when the soldiers are firing their rifles against you, and what’s surprising is that the movements even here are so smooth and it’s just awesome to watch.

Moving assassinations and hiding assassinations

You can now assassinate an enemy from a moving travelling cart, which is nice and can be used for your advantage of surprise. Another assassination feature is the hiding spot/corner assassinations. This is a feature where you can lean onto a corner and assassinate a target just like from the haystacks, but instead of dragging the dead bodies in some stack of something do you only put it nice and easy into the wall you where just leaning against.

Free running improvements

This system has always given me some issues one way or another with unwanted jumping and so on, this has now been fixed. The only button you have to use to run with is the RT button, but you can also use A to jump farther if wanted. This is not all, now you can also slide beneath fallen tree’s openings beneath fences and easily just jump over a low fence, instead of jump up on it and then jump again to get down.

Weather system

Finally there have been implemented a weather system in the Assassin’s Creed series. With rain, snow, wind and all that comes with the weather sets a mood for the game and make it more real. By the way, the snow will reduce your movements if you walk in high enough snow.

Animals

This is a feature which is kind of cool, and what’s even cooler is that it’s not only domestic animals they’ve put in the game. You have wild animals you can hunt or sometimes have to defend your self against, but here will you also see that the fighting system have been altered for the better. The domestic animals can also be interacted with in one way or another some can be petted and other can be fed.

Fast travel

The fast travel system has also been improved for the better. Now is it enough for you just to open up the map and choose the unlocked fast travel point and just travel there, instead of have to go to the fast travel point and then choose your destination.

Revamped the map

You can and will have to open the map with exploring as well as using the view points, this will make the player have to explore the world if he want to go through and get everything in the game.

Lock picking

This is already a known skill from the start which by the way is a good thing, not that the lock picking is so hard but it’s still great that you don’t have to unlock it as a skill. This feature allows you to open chests and doors with relatively brute force, but still with some charm.

Accounting book

This is a feature where you control the income and everything that goes with Homestead, your new home base. Here you have control over the stock pile for Homestead, you can craft items for your manor or for your self. You can also send trading caravans to the different cities for cash in return, but you have to remember the risk rate and the tax fee.

Anvil

Anvil is the new game engine Ubisoft are using on Assassin’s Creed 3, and it gives the developing crew much more room to play with. It’s the reason for the whole new gameplay experience with all the new features and more. The anvil engine also gave the crew the possibility for better graphics and smoother movements in general. I’m really glad they’ve had this technology ready for this game, or I think this game wouldn’t have been the same.

The Creed

It’s your job to rebuild the creed, and for that you will need new recruits. To get these recruits isn’t so hard it’s actually almost easier than in Revelations. You can still send your recruits on missions to level up and get more experience, but you will also gain money and items from each mission. They’ve taken away one feature though and that’s the feature where you can choose what and whom you want to upgrade the equipment, but it’s ok as it take your mind of one thing as you already have enough tasks you have to use your money on. You can also use your assassin recruits in different ways to aid you directly if you want to, either assassin a target of your choice or use them as body guards and so on. Gather the assassin recruits relatively early in the game is probably the best idea so you can use the in the missions. I didn’t do it before I was almost done with the story and I wish I had, it would have made it easier.

Leader boards and stats

You can now track your own and your friend’s stats with the leaderboard feature, but that’s not all. The leader board is also for every gamer from all over the world, and you will have easy access to the stats from the in-game menu so you can see how you’re doing amongst other gamers.

Multiplayer

The multiplayer part is just the same as in revelations with the exception of two new game modes, the Domination and the Wolfpack modes. In the Wolfpack mode are you and your friends supposed to work together and kill the targets to prolong the time. The better kill score you get or multiplier kills, the more time do you give your team to continue. It seems like you just can go on and on as long as you can keep the timer going. Unfortunately I didn’t get the opportunity to try out the Domination mode, so I can’t tell you much about it.

Conclusion: It’s by far the best Assassin’s Creed game in the series, and hopefully will Ubisoft continue this development further.

Rating: 10/10 Game of the year…

Dishonored is one of the games I really looked forward to get my hands on this year, maybe because it’s a Zenimax/Bethesda publishing or the kill moves. I don’t know, but I was ready for the action when it came in the mail.

Story

You’re in the City of Dunwall where plague, industry and mysticism collide, and the plague is the worst enemy of the city. Spreading like fire in dry grass with the rats, it consumes everyone that’s unfortunate to come across the rats or infested food. This event starts to move things in the dark and lurking just for the right opportunity to strike.

You play the character of the body guard “Corvo” who protects the empress and her daughter, but things happens fast and one way or another you get dishonoured and framed for killing the one you where supposed to protect with your very life. This is where the real story begins, one way or another you’re on a mission to take down those who wronged you and get your honour back, and not to mention get the rightfully heir to the throne back in her castle.

To be able to take them down will you need help to know when and where to strike, so you can take them one by one. This help do you get from the resistance, a little group that work in the shadows and need the skills of Corvo to accomplish their goals. These allied people can help you with your equipment and upgrade it for you for a price, this will be at great help when you’re on your missions.

Play style and behaviour

Dishonored can be played in more than just one way, you can use the stealth approach and have a low profile character or you can cause chaos and disturbance. Either way, your allies and possibly future allies will react on what you do and how you’re doing it. This doesn’t go just for the play style, but also for the side missions you choose to complete. Some missions will give you enemies you didn’t have in the first place and some will just give you a reward or something like it. The plague also get worse and the streets filled with more rats the more you dead bodies you leave behind, which can be a real pain in the ass if you meet a huge amount of rats in one group.

Free movement

While roaming around in the city is there only the highest rooftops you can’t enter, the rest of the areas can be reached one way or another. Experimenting with different approaches and find the best ways to get around will help you a lot, especially if you’re going for the stealth approach. This way it also gives you a lot of ways to get close to your targets. I only wish there was one huge open world instead of just an area at the time, especially when you’re sent on a mission. It’s not a deal breaker, but I think it would have made it more interesting with a huge open world when you have this free movement anyway.

Upgrades

I mentioned the possibility for upgrading your equipment earlier, but I didn’t mention what or how. Upgrades can be done at the resistance workshop by “Piero”, he can upgrade everything as long as he has the right materials and/or the blueprints. Materials isn’t something you have to worry about, it’s the blueprints you have to find if you want to upgrade more than Piero already can do for you. These upgrades can be everything from upgrading the amount of ammo for a specific weapon type, to your mask and improvement of your equipment.

Supernatural abilities

Your equipment isn’t the only things that can be “upgraded”. Corvo can also be upgraded with supernatural abilities. These abilities can only be opened with runes you find around in the areas, or you can get them from completing some side missions. These upgrades can be bending time, summon rats to kill for you, make your enemies turn in to ash when they’re killed and so on. It’s really cool and gives the game more of an overpowered character.

Rats and Weepers

Not every rat is infected or trying to kill you, it’s the big groups of “zombiefied” rats you have to be aware of. There are also another “zombiefied” specie you have to be aware of, and that’s the Weepers. The Weepers are infected humans that act more or less like zombies, but they can hurt you plenty if you’re not fast or good enough to fight them.

Enemy equipment

The enemy equipment can be hacked for your own safety, which means that the electrical fence for instance can be turned around and only kill the enemies that try to pass through and not responding to you at all. This give you a strategic opportunity to lure your enemy’s trough and you will get something cool to watch.

Combination of other games

When I played Dishonored I immediately got the feeling of playing Bioshock, and as I played along the story I got the feeling of playing a mixture of several games in one. Bioshock for the designs and looks, Assassin’s Creed and Deus Ex for the stealth assassin ways, and just good old fashion shooting action.

Conclusion: It’s a good game with cool ways to kill your enemies and a somewhat good story. It’s just too bad that the ending is just filled with clichés and it’s a relatively short game.

Rating: 7/10

I’ve never had the patience to play turn based games until I tried Civilization 5 and Revolution, these games turned me 180 degrees around when it comes to this types of games.

Story

An alien invasion is in progress and the world leaders decide that it’s time to start the Xcom project. This is your project that you have 100% control over it, and it’s up to you to make easy and difficult choices regarding research and development of your base and soldiers. Not to mention do everything in your power to stop the invasion at all costs.

Base

Your base are your playground outside of the battlefield, this is where you can do you research on aliens and alien technology to be able to defeat them. In order to get this research starting and continuing, you will have to gather killed aliens from your mission and capture each race alive so you can interrogate them for better research. In the beginning of the game do you have to choose your base location, the locations you have to choose between are North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Each of these locations has their own continent bonus that you will benefit from right from the start. You can also earn the other bonuses as well if you get full satellite coverage in the respective countries/continents.

Besides the research and council communication, you also have the engineering, barracks, hangar and the situation room. At the engineering station can you take the final results from research and build weapons and such, you can also improve your current equipment and build new facilities for better and faster results and improve your base.

The barracks is where you have full view of the status for your soldiers, you can use the officer training school, view the memorial of your fallen soldiers, and you can also hire new recruits if you’re in lack of soldiers. When you’ve built the PSI labs, you can send three soldiers at the time to see if they have psionic abilities. The ones that have these abilities are in my opinion the most valuable soldiers you can get, as they can resist mind play from the enemies and actually use it on them in stead

In the hangar is it very limited of what you can do, but there’s always something. This is where you can view your aircrafts and improve them with the purchased weapons you’ve researched and built. You also have the status report for the aircrafts here as well.

Situation room is the room where you find the panic level bars over the respective countries. You also have the Xcom finance sheet so you can easily track your finances and see if you need to make some changes on the base. You have the grey market where you can sell the overflow of alien corpses and items you’ve gathered from your successful missions. Finally there are the pending requests, it’s here other countries can ask for certain items for a price of money, engineers or scientists.

Support

The project is founded by 16 countries which have a council member each. It’s important that you keep these countries in the project and don’t let the panic level rise to high, if the panic level get too high in a specific country will they pull out of the project and you will earn less monthly. If eight or more countries leave the project will it be terminated and the game is over.

Soldiers

Every soldier will gain access to upgrades along with their new ranks, and the better rank the better the upgrades will be. At every new rank there are usually two upgrades you have to choose between, so choosing wisely and for what’s best for your team will probably be the best choice. There are more upgrades for some of the soldiers, but that’s only available for those who have psionic abilities.

The soldiers with the psionic abilities are the most valuable soldiers you can get, so equipping them with the best gear would be a great idea. What’s cool is that if you’re good at doing the research, you will be able to fight the aliens with their own technology, which is awesome by the way. The weapons and armour the aliens are using are overpowered equipment compared to what you’re starting out with.

The Aliens

The enemy consists of 13 different alien species and upgraded species. Some of them are robots and other a combination of alien and robot, almost like a cyborg alien. Every species has its own way of fighting or special ability, and some other is just harder to kill. Some of the special abilities can be spitting acid, to use mind control and take control over one or more of your soldiers for a certain amount of turns or until you kill it.

Turn based strategy

Xcom: Enemy unknown is as I said earlier, a turn based game. This only applies to the battlefield where you have to be strategic about your movements and line of sight. When you’re on the battlefield will your soldiers only have two actions per soldier per turn, so just using both actions in just moving will most likely get your team killed unless you do it at the right times. You can always use over watch with some of your soldiers and then move forward two tiles under cover. This strategy will get you far sometimes but not always, so you always have to think before you act.

Engaging the enemy only from one side usually give you more trouble than you need, using the flanking method and remember the line of sight will give you the upper hand any time. Flanking the enemy will also sometimes give you an extra action with certain classes, but this is only if you’ve unlocked the right skills.

Taking cover

Using cover will usually protect you against the enemy attacks, but not every cover will be able to sustain the damage output that the enemy deal. This means that things that you can use as cover can be destroyed and reveal you completely, and you will most likely take damage. This can of course also be used against your enemy as a strategy, the only flaw with that is that you have to use one action or turn with a soldier to reveal the enemy that way. I think this is a cool feature, as you can really damage your surroundings if you like. But you always have to be careful when you’re going in for a crashed UFO, that’s a perfect opportunity to gather alien technology for your research.

Conclusion: This is one of the best turn based games I’ve played. Even though the graphics isn’t the best, it’s a great game with a high entertainment value.

Rating: 9/10

When I thought the NBA 2K series couldn’t be any better I was proven wrong, and boy I’m glad I was. NBA 2K13 don’t have more than one new game mode, but they’ve done some changes and improvements within some of the already existing modes.

Features and Changes

-          Control Stick

-          My Team

-          My Career

-          Social Media

-          Meeting with the GM

-          Coach feedback during the matches

-          TV pause commercials

-          VC earnings

-          Signature Skill

-          My Player changed

-          Legends training camp

-          Improved commentary

These changes and features improve the game for the better and it don’t leave much room for improvement for future games in the franchise, or at least that’s what I think now that I’m writing this review.

Control Stick and shooting

With the new and improved control stick can you now more easily make dribble moves, and not just take a shot when you’re not supposed to. That was a problem they had in 2K12, as you didn’t have the same control over the shooting as you do now. Instead of be able to take a shot as soon as you moved the stick with our without the triggers pulled in, you could take a shot anyway. Now with the improvement do you have to pull the left trigger to take the shot, this ensures that you don’t just throw the ball away accidentally when you’re supposed to make your move. It also enhance the dribble moves and makes it easier to do them without having to remember to pull one of the triggers to do your moves, now it’s just enough with the stick alone and move it right for the dribble.

My Player

My Player has been changed from a career mode to more of a profile editor for your player, they’ve kept the mode from the previous version but it’s now called My Career. So what does My Player contain now? Well this is where you can buy clothing and accessories for your player, with or without player improvement. You can also check your total stats for your player and keep track of your performance as well as edit the player.

It’s a shame that you can’t upload your player from 2K12 and continues his progress from there, I just hope that they will consider that for the next game.

My Career

My Career is an upgraded version of the earlier My Player, and it’s a lot that have changed for the better. First of all the player upgrades have been changed so you will have to develop your player in a little different way than you might be used to, but these changes is just making the experience better. You still have the attributes and animations upgrades, but now you also have the signature skills which you can have up to five peaces equipped at the time. These signature skills can be everything from boosting you for the first quarter so you don’t get fatigued or don’t get cold streaks, to improve you physics and abilities even further. This is an interesting development in regards to how you can give your player the little extra notch that you might have missed.

Social media is also a new feature in my career, this is where you keep track of your fans and get feedback from them after each match. It’s kind of like twitter, but you can’t post anything your self or answer the fans in any way. Still it’s a great feature which can help you improve your head and your play style to make the fans happy.

They had a form of Legends Camp in 2K12 as well, but this time it’s easier to find and it cost a lot less than what it did before. Besides that it’s not much more I can tell you about the camp section.

During the breaks between the quarters will there be played a commercial of the latest big happening of your player, everything from NBA commercials to player of the month and magazine cover adds. Which in my opinion make the career come even more to life than before and it’s getting better, trust me.

The commentaries in this version have been improved just a little, not that there was so extremely much room for improvement anyway but enough. The improvement I’m talking about is that now they will use your chosen nickname instead of just using your number when they talk about you. You will also be mentioned in the next game about your performance of the last game, and even the half time commentator will talk about you if you have a great game. They also talk about your last press conference if you made an impression with your attitude and answers.

Meet with GM is also a whole new feature in 2K13, this is where you can sit down with your current GM and talk about everything. If something is bothering you or if you think that everything is going great, or maybe you want a transfer to another team this is where you can do these things. The trading part is an upgraded version of My Trades from 2K12, but you don’t get to see which teams that are interested in you so you’re gambling when if you choose to ask or demand a trade.

If you turn out to be the teams key player will the gm come to you and ask you to pick out up to five players you think that can be a part of the developing and improving the team for the better. Of course within reasonable players that is, but you can always pick whomever you want and the gm will do their best to make it happen. Being included like this also improves the gameplay experience, and makes it more interesting as you now have a voice that will be heard and you can make a difference.

Coach feedback is a new tool to see how your progress on the field is and if he’s happy with your performance. The happier you keep your coach, the longer play time you’ll get. It’s a also great to get this feedback as you will see how you must play to be a part of a great team and maybe even be the one that take your team to total victory.

My Team

My Team is a whole new game mode introduced to the NBA 2K franchise this year. In this mode will you be given a sett of random players coach jerseys and a stadium, and it’s you job to improve you team and get it to the playoffs. The whole mode is basically meant to be played online against other players, kind of like in the association mode, but with a lot less games and pressure. You have all the players, staff and arenas at your disposal to buy as long as you have enough VC earnings, and if you need more VC earnings can you always play an exhibition match.

I only miss a feature where you can edit the arenas, set ticket prices and so on. I’m sure that would have improved this mode even more.

VC earnings and currency

VC earnings are the only currency you have at your disposal for upgrading either your team or player. This is a little different than the previous version where you earned money as a salary from the club you played in with my player, and earned skill points that you could use to upgrade your player. It opens the possibility to actually purchase VC points with ms points so you can faster upgrade whatever you want, or maybe buy the most expensive player to your team. Either way, it can be a good thing as you now can get better faster if you don’t want to use unbelievable many hours to get those upgrades, but on the other hand it’s a part of the game doing it the hard way.

Conclusion: This is by far the best game in the NBA 2k-series and I think that it will be hard to create an even better game next time.

Rating: 10/10

Of Orcs and Men was surprisingly a good game, with a relatively good story and nice graphics.

Story

The story takes you to a world that has been I a war between south and north in decades, between men and orcs. So far in the war have many orcs either get killed or captured to work as slaves for the humans. But there are those who still are free and alive, and one group of those survivors (the bloodjaws) choose to take action against the human king. You will soon find out that the king isn’t the only one you have to take care of.

You will also be helping the slaves also known as the resistance, and free the orcs who have been kept underground for several decades. It’s about time to act, and in the brutal nature of the orcs.

Friendship

The story is also about a giant orc and a little goblin that creates a friendship in all this misery, and without each other none of these would have survived. They even go as far as going on a spiritual journey together just to find out the worst nightmare of their past about each other, which again will get them closer.

Styx and Arkail

You’re playing the Bloodjaw orc Arkail, and in the beginning of your journey will you meet with your “guide” Styx. Styx is a goblin who’s an expert in stealth and is a really great helper if you come across narrow spaces where you (Arkail) can’t get through. This can be used for your advantage with the element of surprise on the battlefield. The element of surprise is a very important factor in this game if you want to succeed and survive your encounter with the enemies, so using Styx’s stealth and assassinate as many targets as possible before engaging in a fight will no doubt be a life saver. Even as a huge fearsome orc will you not be unbeatable, you can only take so much damage before you get knocked out. Don’t worry if you do, as long as either Styx or Arkail still are up in the fight can you help the other up again during the fight.

If Arkail take too much damage, and the rage meter get filled will Arkail get into a berserker stance. In this stance will the player loose the control over Arkail and you better hope that he will survive the remaining enemies. The reason for why you should hope he survives is that Arkail will attack everyone in his path, even allies. So if Styx gets knocked out and then Arkail get it too, will you have to reload last the last save. Fortunately does the auto save function save often and usually right in front of an upcoming fight.

Fighting system

Of Orcs and Men have an attack order fighting system where you can give four orders at the time and if you change your mind, you can always take back the orders you gave starting with the last one. The orders will automatically be cancelled if the enemy you gave the order on dies. This create a strategic moment for the player as if you don’t give the orders will Arkail and Styx just use the regular attack, which inflict less damage than the other. You can always select another enemy while you’re fighting the first one, and give attack orders against him if you see that the next hits are going to kill the first one. This is the strategic factor I mentioned, you always have to watch the command bar, and the health bar of the enemy to survive.

Honour, deception and betrayal

The orc race is filled with honour codexes and they usually don’t act without it, as that’s the foundation of the orc society. Along the story will you find out that not every race have honour as a foundation, and some “allies” won’t hesitate to turn you the back as soon as they got the chance. Well the whole story are filled with these lies and corruptions and it’s a great thing that you play with a bloodjaw like Arkail and a goblin like Styx, without that combined strength you wouldn’t last two minutes out there.

Language

The language used in this game contains strong words and it gives the extra notch to the brutal and violent nature of goblins and orcs, or at least how I think they would have been if they existed.

Conclusion: It’s a game filled with corruption, lies and brutal violent force and with a good story to it as well.

Rating: 9/10

The zombiecopalypse is back, and even better than ever before.

Story

The story goes more or less like it’s always done. With the crazy people that want to create chaos and death, and the good guys that stand up against them even though the odds are against them. This time is the story told in four different points of view with Leon S. Kennedy, Chris Redfield, Jake Muller/Wesker and Ada Wong. What’s so interesting and cool is that since the story is the same, do the character stories cross each other multiple times.

Co-op

Since this game has a co-op feature just like Resident Evil 5 and Operation Raccoon City does every character have a “sidekick”. I choose to call them “sidekicks” because that’s what they are, although you can choose to play as either one even if you play alone. The only exception from the “sidekicks” is Sherry Birkin, the little girl Leon and Claire saved back in Raccoon City. There are one campaign where there’s no co-op, and that’s the Ada Wong campaign. Maybe not as strange as she is after all a lone wolf, and by the way the most awesome character in the game.

Features

There are also a couple of new features in this game, and that’s the close quarter combat, the aiming and the feature that allows you to switch between left and right shoulder.

-          The close quarter combat has been enhanced very much and it takes the gameplay to the next level. You no longer have just one fight move anymore, now do you have free fighting moves with the use of your whole body. The CQB is a mix of martial arts, wrestling and the good old military fighting.

-          The new and improved aiming system gives the player the opportunity to move as he still aims at the enemy. This gives the player an improved gameplay and it also gives the player the option of easier dodging the enemy.

-          The Shoulder switch is a great feature, it means that you don’t have only one shoulder you can look over. This also improves the gameplay as you can turn around corners with your gun first and adapt to the environment by switching between left and right shoulder with the camera and the gun.

Leon

Leon’s campaign takes you more or less back to the Raccoon City gameplay feeling, with the freaky tight spaces and of course intense action. Unfortunately, the freaky feeling is only temporary as the gameplay follow the natural course of the Resident Evil development, from being a great horror game to a more action filled one. Don’t get me wrong, the story is great and you also get help from a new agent named Helena Harper which seems to be an accomplice to the bad guy. Or maybe not, you can only find out if she really is by playing the game. All I can say is that the end-game in Leon’s campaign are really intense.

Chris

Chris Redfield, the BSAA captain which only have one agenda, stopping the outbreak no matter the cost. This campaign is somewhat like Resident Evil 5, with a lot of hardcore action and very little if at all freakiness. Maybe that’s ok as you lead a squad after all and you’ll fight new and improved zombies, the J’avo. A zombie type that not only can use firearms and vehicles, but they can also adapt to damage. I will write more about the J’avo later. Anyway, this campaign is more a straight forward military campaign with the “sidekick” Piers Nivans, which by the way have a great personality and a huge role to Chris. You will be thrown right into a hardcore action filled story from start to finish, with a high adrenaline kick.

Jake Muller/Wesker

Jake Muller or Wesker which is his real name, have the c-virus antibodies in his blood and that’s how he turns up in Resident Evil 6. Jake became a mercenary after he was done with the military, risking his life for nothing. As a mercenary ha at least get paid for it. As he has the antibodies in his blood is it crucial that he get tot eh right people so they can create a vaccine, but this is Resident Evil and things never go as planned. This will set you up with a whole new story and maybe a future character in the Resident Evil series. In this campaign will you se some awesome stunts and close quarter fighting, but the story also have it’s more relaxed times as well as the intense.

Ada Wong

The Ada Wong campaign is only available if you complete the other three campaigns first. During the playthrough of the other stories will you probably be a little confused as much as you will get a hint of Ada Wong’s role in this story. This campaign will reveal everything you questioned about her and her intentions in the story it self, it’s also filled with riddles and clues, at least in the beginning of her story. You will also be fleeing for your life in many situations, as you don’t always have the luxury of be able to fight for survival. This will get your adrenaline pump up and running again, but you will also come across some really slow paced times as well so it kid of even things out.

J’avo

The J’avo is a new and improved zombie “class”, I don’t know if you can remember the “Los Ganados” in Resident Evil four. This is the first types of zombies that could use weapons, shields and so on. That type of zombie have now been improved even further, it’s not just that they can use weapons, shields, communicate and use vehicles, they’re now capable of adapting to damage. This means they sometimes will mutate when they’re hurt, and they can take more damage as well as dealing it.

Agent Hunt

In the Agent Hunt game mode can you join random players who play with the online setting open. This means that you will be on the wicked side of the story for a change, as a monster. The only objective you have is to kill the current player/players, and the best part is that they don’t even know you’re there.

Mercenary

The mercenary’s mode is nothing more than zombie killing with a time limit, which you can push further with combos or if you find the hour glasses. I can actually go as far as calling it Zombie killing on speed, because that’s what it feels like. This doesn’t make it less intense and fun though.

Skills

Skill points can be earned by killing enemies or crush wooden barrels and chests. These points can be used to buy skills to improve the characters in different ways. Some skills improve damage output and other reduces incoming damage as well as how much ammo you can pick up and so on. The skills and points are available for every character with a crossover system which allow the points and already bought skills to be integrated with everyone. You can also earn the points from Mercenaries and Agent Hunt.

Conclusion: This is a Resident Evil game that offer the player more than just one way to play, and it’s exciting to see how good job Capcom have done with this game. Oh by the way, it’s like Raccoon City all over again, with a nice little Raccoon City reunion.

Rating: 10/10