Here in New Zealand Spring is in full swing and the weather is warming up. Cue all the fair weather motorcycle riders dusting off their leathers. I prefer to take to two wheels in a safer manner, from the comfort of the couch. And the Ride Series has been cruising along since 2015 for just that purpose.
And here in 2020 is Ride 4.
So the time is here to dress in tight leather and stick some high powered machinery between my legs. Lets ride!
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The Serious Sam games have always been about staying on the move, especially when the going gets tough and the odds are stacked against you – and in Serious Sam games the odds are always stacked against you.
The first Serious Same game graced PCs way back in 2001, and in the intervening years there have been a few games bearing the Serious Same moniker.
The series’ core gameplay has always remained the same: throwing countless numbers of enemies against the player, forcing them to keep moving. Circle strafing and running backwards so as to avoid the enemy onslaught and their attacks.
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Crysis (Remastered) is one of those touchstone titles that most gamers have heard about, being released on PC back in 2007 to rave reviews. It was the “Ultimate Test” of a PCs graphical prowess.
Later in 2011 Crysis landed on Console, which is where I experienced it on the Xbox 360. Even in the paired down console version, I loved it, its was beautiful, unique and I even got 1000/1000 achievement points!
13 years have passed since its initial release. Which is a long time in game design terms. Unfortunately, even though Crysis has had the “Remaster treatment” to make it all pretty, the titles old bones are showing their age.
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Street Power Football is a mixed bag of soccer stuff. Delivering six distinctly different game modes to a pumping beat, while they are somewhat linked it feels at times like an identity crisis.
It’s soccer Jim, but not as we know it.
That’s the crux of it, the core of the game is about 3 vs 3 Street Soccer, end to end short and snappy games. Most often decided by who made the fewer mistakes, like NBA Street the game is quick, chock full of power-ups and “character”.
I love a good soccer game, having spent my formative years in the U.K. it goes without saying. While I can appreciate the niche for flashy moves, lycra and the odd Panna. I find the game lacks subtlety and doesn’t hit my sweet spot, which is obviously touch slower.
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I am a big fan of Control. I said pretty nice things a year ago in my review, such as…”It was mind-bendingly magical”. It was even my Game of the Year for 2019!
So, any offer to dive back into Controls twisted world is met with giddy laughs of excitement and much wringing of hands.
The second and final (AWE) DLC for Control has just arrived. Remedy have fully bridged the world of Alan Wake and Control in this 3-4hr DLC pack. I won’t spoil any story from here on in, but suffice is to say. Mr Wake’s typewriter is hard at work leading Jesse into darkness, hunting an escaped Bright Falls monster who is loose in the Strange House.
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In No Straight Roads self confessed hard core rockers Mayday and Zuke are out to take down the powers of Vinyl City and their music of choice, EDM!
As a big rock fan myself it is easy to side with our rocking duo and take the fight to the evil EDM empire.
There is only one small problem with the pair who are collectively known as the Indie rock band Bunk Bed Junction. That is that their music, in my opinion, is not even remotely rock.
Ignoring that small point, lets rock on and take down that nasty EDM!
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JBL ANZ very kindly supplied us with a set of Wireless 600 headphones to celebrate their Australian launch last week. Over the course of this year they have made a big impact in New Zealand with their gaming range and we have been able to review some of the range previously.
Of course JBL are not only known for their Gaming Headsets, as part of the Harman Karman Group they are responsible for a range of lifestyle audio devices too. Some of which will be finding their way to Australasia soon.
The Wireless 600 is a set that is easy to put on, the packaged (braided) cables make it simple to swap out from PS4, to Mac, to Xbox to Switch. I am happy with it and will be making the most of them.
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The Top 10 annoying things in video games.
There are Top 10 lists for all sorts of things, but today it hit me there’s a list we don’t speak of. So here it is, in no particular order.
01: Pointless Boss Fights.
02: Non dodge-able Attacks.
03: The End of Level vehicle run.
04: Choices, choices, annoying choices.
05: Buying Loot from an NPC, then finding something better.
06: Busy Work.
07: Racing in non-racing games is annoying.
08: Learning the ropes with an established character.
09: The A.I. never drives.
10: Backtracking by design.
The best choice Crystal Dynamics made with Marvel’s Avengers was to have the story told from an outside perspective. The Avengers of this universe are already established heroes, legends amid a festival of fanfare and merchandise. The subjects of enthusiastic fan fiction, which is how the main protagonist of this game, Kamala Khan, is introduced.
Her and her adorable dad are on an Avengers Quinjet, alongside fellow writing competition winners. Given the opportunity to rub shoulders with the desultory heroes themselves on their impressive Helicarrier. Kamala encounters several of the Avengers as a young fangirl, geeking out at collecting comic books to gain entry to the VIP area, after which all hell breaks loose and the Avengers are swiftly dealt a master blow that sees their reputation in tatters, their assets seized by the government and the team itself thrown to the wind.
Marvel’s Avengers is a perfectly enjoyable, if not particularly well assembled, superhero action title with looter-shooter influences. A well written main story will give you ten hours of enjoyment.
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There aren’t a lot of video games like Descenders about mountain biking, a sport that I like to partake in as often as time allows.
Perhaps my favourite mountain biking game – and I’m slightly biased here because I backed it on Kickstarter – is Lonely Mountains Downhill, which was made by a small German development studio and it really is marvellous fun, with a gorgeous visual aesthetic and “Just one more go” game play.
Descenders comes from Dutch development studio Ragesquid and while it’s not much in the looks department – to be honest, it wouldn’t look out of place on the PlayStation 3. It does have an addictive quality about it as you test your mountain bike mettle on a variety of downhill mountain bike tracks.
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Stranded on a desert island, what do you bring? As much as I would love to say…. “a PS4 and a copy of Windbound”, alas I cannot. Its beautiful art style and fun sailing mechanics, have been scuttled by the tough rogue-like penalties and clunky combat encounters.
Windbound is a survival game built around rouge-like mechanics and procedurally generated islands. Anyone who has played “Don’t Starve” will have a very good understanding of the design philosophy.
Windbound initially presents as a sort of paired down version of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Which, let’s be honest is a great place to start. Windbound will not however, have the broad appeal of Zelda. I think it’s going to be an acquired taste for many gamers as they will need to be patient and forgiving lovers of rogue-likes, to find joy here.
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