REVIEW: Wolfenstein The New Order

Wolfenstein: The New Order
First Person Shooter, Action-Adventure
PS4, XB1, PS3, 360, PC

It has been quite a while since I have played a Wolfenstein game. The latest foray into the world takes place 3 years after the adventure found in Wolfenstein (2009). In this alternative history, the Nazis have come up with a lot of new advanced technologies, which led to Germany conquering the world's superpowers. In a last ditch attempt to turn the tide, William "BJ" Blazkowski and Fergus Reid attempt a raid against a weapons labratory when they are captured. Blazkowski manages to escape but is put into an asylum for many years before snapping out of his vegetative state when a group of Nazis come to the hospital seeking patients for their experiments and he kills the interlopers and escapes with Anya, the young nurse from the facility to join up with the resistance.


Gameplay

The gameplay is quite easy to pick up the weapons wheel allows you to set two of your weapons for quick switches. and the game plays well. I only noticed a few glitches here and there that never deterred from the enjoyment of the game. While the alternative history may be something we haven't seen before, the Nazis controlling nearly the entire planet, the shooter aspect is something everyone will have seen before. The weapons may be slightly different but the overall gameplay is familiar territory.  However, where Wolfenstein excels is the visceral appeal of killing the bad guys. Many of the weapons have a duel-wielding option that to me was unnecessary. Although it did come in handy a few times early in the game when faced with two robots coming at you at the same time.

While Wolfenstein the New Order is a shooter, many of the levels depend upon stealth and the use of knives in order to succeed and progress through the level. I enjoyed stalking my enemies through rooms and corridors and once I had my hands on a silenced pistol, I continued to hunt them and take them apart one at a time leaving the rest unaware of their partner's fate. Hunting down commanders to avoid them calling in reinforcements helps avoid future conflicts. But I would have liked to have had better AI on the soldiers. Sometime they would encounter a body and not even bother to go on alert but continue to walk their patrol route making it easy for me to pick them off.

One thing that I did enjoy was how you unlock new abilities. By completing mini-games through the levels you unlock new abilities. The skills also have to be unlocked in order, which adds a nice layer of depth to the challenges.

The levels are all unique and subtly show Germany's dominance in the world. There is a space station, a junk yard and a capital city to name a few all adding to the mythology of this alternative history.

One of the downsides to the game is the very old feel of having to press 'X' every time you encounter health, ammo, and armor. It would have been nice to just walk over it and collect it. There is also a lack of NPCs, making the world seem a little less populated. There are a few points in the game where the learning curve is high. At one point you enter a sewer system and are confronted by an armored dog and there is no clue as to what you are suppose to do; attack it or run away. Only after trial and error do you find out the answer. There are a few situations like this that bothered me a little.



Graphics

While the game deals with a very dreary subject matter, the game is quite colorful. The swimming aspect and alternative history allow for some spectacular visuals. I found myself immersed into the world that MachineGames created. The glitches I mentioned above can be found throughout the game but do not deter from the game. They are minor nuisances that are so small that they are only jarring for a second.

Audio

The music is rather subtle. As I write this review, I can't even really recall much of the soundtrack. I did enjoy the voice acting. From Fergus' Irish humor to the sounds of the guns. They all added to a fairly fantastic game.

Verdict

Wolfenstein doesn't break new ground with their latest in the franchise but it is one of the better games currently out there. The PS4 and Xbox One are flooded with shooters looking to get your money and Wolfenstein The New Order is the one that should be getting it. It is a fun game dealing with some truly ugly events that really occurred. The fact that MachineGames can bring them to light without repercussions speaks loudly to how well they blended history with their alternative vision. The fact that nearly every level has at least two ways to approach it gives it some replay ability. The lack of multiplayer  is blessing as it is a great single player campaign.

Overall 8/10

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REVIEW: Conception II PS Vita

Conception II
Role-playing, Dungeon Crawler
Platforms: 3DS, Vita

In a world where the populace is under constant threat from monsters are formed from Dark Circles, a young man learns that he has the mark of the Star God on his hand, which allows him to attend a special school for people bearing the mark that gives them the ability to fight the monsters and defend humanity.

The protagonist, upon arriving at the school is tested and we quickly learn that he has a larger than average amount of Star Energy (the power to fight the monsters) and that he is the foretold "God's Gift." This title makes him an instant celebrity and elevates him to the elite branch of warriors. His power grants him the ability to fight inside the Dark Circles and bring a female companion. The female companions when "classmating" with God's gift can create Star Children, which can also go into the Dark Circles and fight the monsters.

Gameplay

Conception II is a dungeon crawler that uses a combination of turned based attacks and a 360 degree battlefield, split into four sections. Depending upon where you place your fighters around the monster, they may or may not be in harms way when it is the monster's turn to attack. Some attacks affect more than one of the four quadrants. The team can take on one monster at a time or you can split them up and take on up to three monsters at once. There are direct attacks and area of effect attacks.

When you are not in a battle you work your way through the various levels of the dungeon and can either evade them or attempt to take them unaware and gain an advantage in combat by attacking first.

When you are not in a dungeon, the game switches over to the academy where you can shop for items, change your Star Children teams (two teams of three), take on new quests, and interact with the various female companions in an attempt to increase your relationship status and conceive new Star Children.

The controls work rather intuitively. The right stick moves the camera and the left moves the hero. The buttons are clearly marked as you play through the game for each of the actions.

One complaint that I have is that as you work your way through each dungeon the first time, once you reach the final boss, the academy pulls you out forcing you to work your way through the dungeon again. The second play through has you now possessing an item that allows you to contain the boss and close the circle. While you can skip floors after working yourself to the next level upon your return, in order to level up your characters, it is best to start at the beginning of the dungeon and work your way back to the boss.



Graphics

While I am relatively new to the PS Vita (slim model), the graphics do look outstanding. The colors are bright and the characters are drawn well. The "classmating" portion of the game may be a concern for some but there isn't any nudity just glowing outline of the female's body, imply that the act may not just be holding hands. A rating of PG at best.

Audio

The music is what you would expect for a dungeon crawler and plays on an endless loop. It isn't great but it isn't bad.

Verdict

Conception II is a decent role playing game that has a interesting storyline but isn't as dramatic as Persona 4 Golden, a game that is considered the best RPG for the system, which is well deserved. Conception II offers a more light-hearted experience that combines the dating sim and dungeon crawler well. While there are many floors that you need to fight through in order to close them, the game goes by quickly and is a decent game if you are looking for something to fill in the gap P4G has left you after completing it. I for one, enjoyed all of the games aspects and while it doesn't break any new ground like it.

Overall   7/10

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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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