REVIEW: Assassins Creed Unity

Assassins Creed Unity
Action-Adventure
PS4, Xbox One, PC

For the seventh game in the series we head to France during the French Revolution. You play the character Arno Dorian, a young man whose father was murdered at an early age and upon sneaking into your step-sister's secret birthday party witness his guardian murdered. He is arrested for the murder and meets and assassin who sets him on a course for revenge and to seek the truth about his both murders. Along the way he meets various historical figures that help him on his quest.

I have always enjoyed the Assassin's Creed franchise. I still feel that the controls could be better as I often find myself stuck on a barrel or not climbing when I should be. The parkour system still hasn't ironed out every little bug. And while many people are reporting strange bugs and glitches within the game, I have yet to experience anything.

One huge improvement for Unity is that the map is massive. I thought that Black Flag had plenty of things to do and Unity surpasses it. When you first open up your map it is covered in various activities and collectibles. One thing that I enjoyed was that the room puzzles have returned. I felt as if there weren't many puzzles in Black Flag but very early on you have to navigate a room in order to unlock its secrets.

While I haven't had much time playing Unity as I would like, what I have played has been positive. What updates they have made really improve the game, but combat still feels the same and the parkour control system still has its issues when your need it to be flawless.

It should also be noted that in Unity the multiplayer has been overhauled allowing you and your friends to play together and take down missions and other objectives.

If you have enjoyed the previous incarnations of the Assassin's Creed series you will definitely enjoy this installment as they have kept what worked in previous games and made little tweaks to enhance gameplay. There is plenty to do and truth be told, probably too much to do. Assassin's Creed Unity continues the fine tradition of the series while providing a new backdrop in which to hone your skills. It would have been nice to be able to customize the sex of your character considering there are so many variations to your costume but it was not to be. Assassin's Creed is highly recommended.

Overall 8/10

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REVIEW: MLB14 : The Show PS4

MLB 14: The Show PS4
Sports
Single-player, Online multiplayer
PS3, PS 4, PS Vita

While the new current generation of consoles are still trying to add to their game libraries one series that I knew I had to pick up was Playstation's MLB series. It is a console exclusive and every incarnation of the series always receives high marks, and for good reason.

There are several game modes to choose from when you first start to play the game. From making a player that starts out in the minors and works their way up to the majors, "the Show," a homerun derby, or just going into a single random game, or playing against others online to name a few.

Perhaps the biggest strength of the game are all of the options. The game lets you pick and choose how you play the game. For example, you can mash buttons to swing the bat or use the joystick all with a quick change in the options menu.

Gameplay

MLB 14 straight out of the box is quite quick to pick up and play but takes quite a while to master. With the wide ranging options any player who picks up the game should be able to find a controller setup that enhances their experience.

My only two gripes about gameplay is the fielding and the micro transactions. I tend to play 3rd base and indicator for infield plays lags behind. A pop up takes a second to register and while it may not make a difference on making the play, the player is out of position at the beginning of the play. A line drive tends to fly right by my fielder even after hitting the jump/dive button, which could have ended the play but ends up having the opponent taking a base.

The other complaint is the micro transactions. MLB has the option of tricking out your created player in order to advance your abilities. When you start out in the minors it may take a long time to get your player to advance up to the majors and MLB gives you the "opportunity" to purchase skill points for real money in order to cut down that time. Before the days of micro transactions, you had to improve or they gave you enough points when you start out to be competitive but now it is an opportunity to rake you over the coals for more money.

Graphics

The Playstation 4's graphics are exceptional. At first glance, it is difficult to tell you are playing a game as the players look and feel real. Customization is also impressive as you can really narrow down your player's looks.

Audio

The sounds of the ballpark are alive and well in MLB 14 and with the options available you can even choose the genre of music they play when you come up to the batting box. When the ball makes contact with the bat it is realistically depicted. No complaints on this front. The announcers and play by play commentators do tend to repeat far often that I would like but that is expected in sports games as there is only so many canned responses that the can record for so many situations. However, it would have been nice to have had a few more to break up the monotony.

Verdict

MLB 14 is how you do a baseball game, with the myriad choices in customization and games styles it is a definite pick up for anyone who enjoys baseball, I am just a casual player and found myself really enjoying the game far more than I thought I would. It would be interesting to see their take on a football/soccer game like FIFA as the customization on MLB is very in depth.

Overall 8.5/10

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REVIEW: Sniper Elite III Xbox One

Sniper Elite
Third Person, Tactical Shooter
Consoles: PC, PS3, PS4, X1, Xb360

Sniper Elite III is the first next generation title for the series. Still fighting the Nazis, this time in Africa (or Afrika if you prefer), we have our hero, Karl Fairburne, a sniper for the OSS or Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the CIA where he learns of a super weapon the Nazi's are developing to turn the tide of the war.

Gameplay

The shooting mechanics are very similar to the controls found in Sniper Elite V2 only slightly improved. The most noticeable improvements are in the size of the maps. The majority of the maps are huge and allow the player to choose various ways to reach their objectives.

The stealth mechanics use a eye icon where a fully opened eye means you are out in the open and a squint is used when you are undetectable. While it is a nice feature, I found myself mainly using the awareness icon above the soldiers head. Yellow meant that they can see you but don't know what or who you are and are moving to investigate and as they become more alert it will start to turn to the color red, a full red circle means you have been identified and engaged. This system gave me enough information to move into the shadows or behind an obstacle, which would make them check the last place they saw you and allowing you to ambush them.

Loud sounds are still used to mask your shots and I found that the majority of the soldiers could be taken out using this method. In the later levels the machines you can interact with become less and less making you try to maneuver around and taking the enemies out by silenced pistol or with a takedown to clear a path to the objective.



The high point of Sniper III is the kill cam. Sniper III improves the kill cam by adding the cardiovascular and muscular system. As you take your shot the kill cam shows the bullet traveling to the target and if a soldier, just where the bullet enters the body and the damage it does. Vehicles can also be targeted but the majority of vehicles require two shots on the same panel/weakpoint in order to destroy it.

There is one mission where you and a spotter go out and look for the enemy. Not sure if it was a fluke in how I approached taking out the soldiers or a flaw in the level design but after he spotted the first soldier my spotter became completely useless. I would have loved to have had more levels where your spot points out more enemy scouts and you have to take them out but it was not to be. Perhaps in future games we will see more use of this feature. I would love to see Sniper Elite move on to the Korean War, a war that has yet to be used in video games.

Sniper III also has a new feature where you can start a small fire in order to gain the attention of patrolling guards. I used it a few times but just like the option to throw a rock to gain their attention, it had mixed results. You have a few other items at your disposal: grenades, trip wire explosives, and pop up explosives. They work once you have recognized the patterns that the soldiers walk and they can help take out a few people here and there. I used them sparingly and only used the vehicle mine to disable them and then pick them off from afar.

Graphics

The graphics are a huge improvement now that the game is on the next gen consoles. the kill cam looks sharper and the maps are bigger than previous versions of the game. Overall it isn't much different than Sniper Elite V2 but it does look impressive.

Audio

The game sounds great, the bullets coming out you ping and  shriek by and while there isn't a lot of talking in the game the characters feel authentic.

Verdict

Sniper Elite III is a great addition to the franchise that continues to improve with each new iteration. I happened to pick up the Collectors Edition, which included a deck of playing cards, a cabaret poster, range target and bullet pen, dog tags and a few blueprints, as well as some DLC. For the additional ten dollars it isn't a bad deal.

As for the game itself, the campaign is shorter than I would like and once you reach the end of the game finally eliminating your adversary is not as satisfying as it should have been since the whole story is chasing him down. Had the campaign been a little longer and the final confrontation been a little more emotional, I would have given the game a higher score. That said, it is a lot of fun and I look forward to the next one in the series.

Overall  7.5/10

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Assassin's Creed Black Flag XBox One

Assassin's Creed Black Flag
Third Person, Action Adventure Game
Console: Wii U, PS3, PS4, Xbox360 X1

Assassin's Creed Black Flag is the sixth installment in the Assassin's Creed franchise, this time featuring the pirate Edward Kenway (grandson to the protagonist of Assassin's Creed III). Kenway doesn't start out as part of the assassin's guild but is instead a man seeking his fortune when he stumbles into the ongoing fight between the the Templars and the Assassins.

Anyone who has played any of the Assassin's Creed games knows that there is plenty of world to explore as you climb up towers to unlock and uncover treasure and points of interest. What sets Black Flag apart from its predecessors is that the world is massive and that there are more points of interest than any of the games that came before it.


Gameplay

While controlling your character has always had its minor difficulties, Black Flag does a very good job of rectifying some of the previous complaints players had regarding the control of the character. I also felt as though Edward was able to navigate better than Assassin's Creed III; however, it still can be glitchy when trying to fine tune Edward in the direction you want to go.

Combat is also still quite easy, the ability to wait out your opponent and wait for the counter move is still the best strategy when faced with unfavorable odds. No matter what weapon you choose (guns not included) it is easy to just block and then attack. The heavy enemies are nearly just as simple by kicking them to break their attack and then going for the kill. While I am a person who enjoys the stealth aspect of the game, the straight up fights were just as entertaining as you could take on a large group and come out unscathed and then return to stealth gameplay.

While the heart of the game is still an Assassin's Creed game, it does tend to stray from the expectation as you don't start out as an Assassin, or their ally. Rather you slowly work your way into the fold and work along side them. The game is more pirate game then anything else as you upgrade your ship, the Jackdaw, and build up your fleet in order to build up your coffers and assist your online friends in their enterprises. You also have a private base that I didn't feel was fully explored. You have the option of building stores, taverns and brothels and a few new items for your mansion but it could have been something more.

Many of the missions feel very repetitive and after a while you get tired of the same challenge. I especially grew bored with the tailing and eavesdropping missions, a feature I have heard they are looking to improve in the next Assassin's Creed game (Assassin's Creed Unity)

While previous Assassin's Creed games have you take over Templar buildings, this time you are required to successfully destroy a coastal fort and then dock and fight through soldiers and kill the officer in charge in order to safely navigate the sea.

They also added a hunting mini game where you must hunt on land and on sea in order increase the amount of pistols and ammo you can carry. I have mixed emotions on this as you do a fair bit of hunting. On one hand it is just a game and historically accurate (to a degree) and on the other we are killing animals in a way that glorifies it. Not sure why I am on the fence about this issue as I had no problems doing it when it was featured in Far Cry 3.

There is also an online component where you play against other players but I only played it briefly and found the game modes to be less than stellar. While it is a nice edition to the game, you really play Assassin's Creed games for the campaign.





Graphics

Assassin's Creed does a tremendous job of using the upgraded graphics on the Xbox One. While it may be hard to see while you are on land, the sudden tempest while at see is impressive as the waves slam into the Jackdaw. The island paradises that you visit are bright and colorful. I find the graphics to be absolutely stunning.


Audio

As a historical story, the music is brilliantly used by the crew of the Jackdaw as they take up song once you head out to plunder Spanish and British convoys. One of the mini games is collecting music that your crew then sing as you are underway. It is an ingenious way to add historical accuracy as well as bring a soundtrack to the game. Although I did get a lot of repeating songs that I can still hear in my head from time to time.


Verdict

Assassin's Creed Black Flag is an ambitious addition to the series that features a massive map to explore containing hundreds of mini games and collectibles scattered throughout the world. While at times it feels more like a pirate simulator than a Assassin's Creed game, it still one of the best games out on the system today. Hours of gameplay and additional content can be found via Download. The one thing I really do not like is the ability to purchase some of the unlockable items through a pay to play feature in the online store. It doesn't affect the online component of the game but it just seems like a waste of money as the unlockables are not that difficult to attain.


Overall 8.5/10

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Watchdogs Xbox One

Watchdogs
Genre: Third-person, open world adventure game
Console: PC, PS4,PS3, XB360, XB1

Watch Dogs - Xbox One

Watchdogs has been on my radar since the day it was announced. It was originally intended to be a Xbox One day one release. However, just days before the big two released their new consoles, Ubisoft announced that they would be delaying the game until the first half of 2014. I was disappointed to say the least.

Watchdogs is an open world, third-person adventure game where you play the role of Aiden Pearce, a grey hat hacker who attempted to steal from the wrong people and as a result your family has suffered. Now that you have a few clues that could lead to the people who wronged you, you set out on a personal mission to make them pay.



On May 27th 2014 Watchdogs was finally released for all of the systems and I attended the midnight release party. Once I was home, I waited for it to install and played for about an hour before heading off to bed. The next day I played off and on and then finally finished the game just last week. Here are my impressions:

Story

The story, as described above, is at the heart, a story of retribution, while uncovering the mystery of who sent assassins that lead to the death of your niece Lena. It is a very weak story and by the end of the first act, I was already tired of the story. While I know that you have to have some sort of character motivation, this was very loosely created to keep you moving from mission to mission.

While we are on the subject of missions, they get old quickly. You have mission where you intercept convoys, you have missing persons investigations and collectibles to name a just a few. They were boring to say the least. Although there are a few interesting missions, the gang hideout and ctOS tower puzzles are fun. The digital trips are also fun. Being the spider tank and causing all kinds of mayhem gives a perverse sense of fun. Watchdogs also features an online component where you can jump into other Watchdog players games and attempt to hack their data and then attempt to escape before being discovered or eliminated, even that feature gets repetitive.W

Game Play

The controls are very similar to GTA V and Assassin's Creed. Some people have complained about aiming issues but I never had a problem with aiming. I found the aiming mechanics to be quite good and while I had a ton of different weapons at my disposal, I found that I preferred the default silenced handgun over anything else available. I did switch to the Vector when I would find myself swarmed by enemies, but since I tried to play as stealthy as possible found the silenced pistol the only weapon I really needed.

I did have problems with the duck and cover and hurdle buttons. Often times I would find myself crawling over an object when I wanted to stay hidden from an enemy causing me to be seen and I would have to "go loud" in order to complete the objective.

Watchdogs does feature the worst driving mechanics found in a Triple A title in a long time. For a game based around the premise of having to lose people tracking you, I found loosing the police early on in the game nearly impossible as the cars in the game turn like bricks on a frozen pond. No matter what speed you find yourself driving your vehicle, you will never turn your car around a corner like you should. GTA V has some issues but in Watchdogs escaping from people chasing you is difficult until you unlock some of Aiden's skills. The ability to burst steam pipes in the middle of the street is very effective when trying to ditch someone. However, you still have to try and turn the care around corners. If I had to describe the driving mechanics in one word it would be dreadful.

Graphics

Just a few days ago it was reported that that PC version has the files needed to make the game look more impressive (better shading,brighter colors, etc.) like the first teaser trailers for the game back when it was originally released. While they are not accessible on the console editions, I do find the graphics to be just slightly better than the graphics you would find on the 360 or PS3. I don't think that they are a huge leap forward and don't show the abilities of the consoles.

Audio

Like GTA V, Watchdogs features a wide variety of musical choices. When you hack NPCs phones you occasionally receive a new music track you can access from the car you are in. In my opinion, the tracks you have available are all terrible. Every time I jumped into a car I would immediately turn the radio off. While it is a neat little feature to rip music off from the people around you, the music isn't worth having in the first place.

Verdict

While I am still a huge fan of Ubisoft's games, Watchdogs was a huge disappointment. Unless you are really hurting for a new title to play, I would advise skipping this one. The story is weak, the missions extremely monotonous and the replay value is minimal.

Score 6/10

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