AIPD (an acronym for Artificial Intelligence Police Department) is a top down twin stick shooter in the same vein as Geometry Wars and Ultratron. Luckily, as Xbox One owners we have been spoilt for choice as far as twin stick shooters are concerned. Just how does AIPD fit in to the ever growing catalogue?
There isn’t much in the way of a story line in AIPD so I’ll dive right into the gameplay. To begin with, you need to kit out your ship. You start off with the Gatling Gun for your weapon and the Allrounder Modification. As you continue to play and rack up the points, you’ll be rewarded with new weapons and modifications to use. Personally, my favourite combination was to use the Phaser for the weapon and the Automatic modifier which activates your power ups as soon as you pick them up. You get to unlock a total of 6 weapons and 6 modifiers and they offer many ways to play the game based on what load out you choose. The game throws 15 waves at you that gradually increase in difficulty. Every few waves or so you are introduced to a new type of enemy with different weapons and attacks to keep you on your toes. If you lose all of your health, that’s game over and you have to start over from wave 1.
The calm before the storm.
Along with the main mode, there are 4 other game modes you can have a go at which have different modifiers enabled to increase the difficulty, the fourth mode being a custom mode which you can pick and choose which modifiers are enabled for the game.
Like with other twin stick shooters, you move around with the left stick, aim with the right stick and shoot with the right trigger. Enemies can sometimes drop power ups to help you along your way and you can activate them with the A button. These power ups range from slowing down time to giving yourself a shield. Lastly, you periodically have Transporters fly across the map which, when destroyed, will drop a special weapon like some missiles or some torpedoes, which can be fired using the left trigger.
There are a couple of things that make this different from other twin stick shooters I have played. Firstly, all weapons can overheat, which isn’t to much of an issue on it’s own. But when you combine that with the fact that every time you overheat your weapons, a mine comes flying out of the back of your ship ready to blow you up and take valuable HP from you, it makes you think twice about spamming that right trigger.
The second and most intriguing difference were the challenges that add modifiers to your game. After every wave you go into some kind of wormhole and you are offered up two choices. These choices are modifiers that increase the difficulty of the game in exchange for bonus multiplier. In total, there are 24 different modifiers and upon completion of a wave, two are randomly chosen for you to pick from. Some of them are almost ignorable like the leak modifier which leaves you leaking multipliers constantly throughout the wave, whereas others can be a complete nightmare to deal with. This opens up the opportunity for each playthrough to be somewhat unique depending on what modifiers you get to choose from which, I must say, was a pleasant surprise.
Decisions, decisions…
When I finished the game my first time I was a bit disappointed it was over so quickly, but upon playing it again on a harder difficulty I found it just as enjoyable (albeit harder) as my first playthrough. The random modifiers can be a bit frustrating at times though. On a few occasions during my attempts at beating the game on Hard mode, I had the distinct feeling that the game was screwing me over after having a few modifier choices that gave me a major disadvantage towards the very end. This is probably my issue and mine alone though based on how I opted to play the game.
AIPD does a great job at catering for different play styles. I opted for the run and gun option and ignored my overheating bar. With my setup I was able to easily work around overheating every now and then and avoid those pesky mines popping out of my backside. Like I said above, I did get burned a few times with the modifiers making my play style very difficult, especially when I had to choose the Short Fuse modifier which shortens the fuse on the mines that pop out when you overheat. I tried other methods as well which didn’t work so well for me but there are definitely many ways to go about AIPD.
Phaser FTW!
Something I wanted to touch on briefly that I don’t generally mention in my reviews is the graphics. I was genuinely impressed with how the game was able to portray the retro style graphics but at the same time you know it’s a brand new game using the Unreal Engine 4. I don’t think I encountered a single bit of lag or screen tear at all. I’m not going into any more detail than that because I would be pretending to know what I’m talking about.
To be honest, my only real criticism of AIPD would be the length of the game. I know I explained above that there is real replayability due to the modifiers but I would have enjoyed it more if there were more waves to contest with and a few more different enemies to destroy. Or failing that, having a boss fight every 5 waves or so. Instead you get 14 waves against the run of the mill enemies and 1 final wave against the boss.
One thing I haven’t touched upon is the local co-op aspect of AIPD. I am a huge fan of local co-op games but it would have been nice to see some online functionality other than the leaderboards (which is a nice addition). From what I got to play in local co-op, the game was as much fun as it was playing solo.
Now onto my favourite part, the achievements list. Anyone who enjoys their twin stick shooters and has a decent skill level will complete AIPD with few issues. The only achievement which can be a pain is defeating the boss in hard mode. With practice it isn’t too bad. Other achievements range from not overheating at all through all 15 waves, unlocking all weapons and modifications and scoring 1 billion points.
All in all, AIPD is a brilliant top down, twin stick shooter and I would highly recommend anyone who enjoys these games to go and buy it now if you haven’t already. The gameplay is fast paced and enjoyable and the graphics are on point. Although, the game does only have 15 waves and it doesn’t have any online gameplay, the modifiers certainly help to add replayability and the local co-op is a blast. AIPD fits into the catalogue very neatly near the top.
A review code for AIPD was provided by the Developer for the purpose of this review.
Cubot has a very straightforward mechanic. You control a coloured block (or cube if you prefer) and you need to get it to the like coloured square on the floor. But, as the name suggests there is a great amount of complexity to the implied simplicity. See what I did there?!
The game is split up into 10 episodes each with 8 levels with varying degrees of difficulty. They start off really simple, requiring you to guide your block to the coloured square on the floor by just avoiding some obstacles. As you progress through the levels the game introduces more complicated mechanics, such as extra blocks, different coloured blocks that move differently and teleports.
These pesky blocks move two squares at a time
Cubot does a really good job at introducing a new mechanic during the beginning of each episode so you don’t feel overwhelmed by it. By the time you hit the mid levels of the episode you’re fully comfortable with how the levels work and you can really get into solving the puzzles put in front of you. By the end of some of the episodes I had some real head scratching moments…I just couldn’t figure out how to get the level done.
I’m not going to lie, I struggle with puzzle games and I did end up having to use some guides for the later levels but that didn’t take away from the enjoyment of the game. Anyone well versed, or even average at puzzle games would probably be able to figure them out without the need for a guide.
Blocks moving in different directions gave me more trouble than I care to admit.
If there is anything to complain about it has to be the length of the game. You could probably finish it within 2-3 hours without the use of guides, maybe even less than that depending on your puzzle skills.
As far as achievements are concerned, the list is pretty unimaginative. There are a total of 10 achievements each for 10 which unlock at the end of every episode. This game is a must buy for any achievement hunters out there without a doubt.
Initially, I was sceptical. That scepticism didn’t last long. This game is a fantastic little puzzler and will give you a few hours of enjoyment. I know I painted the length of the game as a negative, but when you consider the price of the game sits at just $1.99 it is an absolute steal. I mentioned above that this is a must buy for achievement hunters and I would recommend it to pretty much anyone who enjoys casual puzzlers to give it a go.
A review code for Cubot – The Complexity of Simplicity was provided by the Developer for the purpose of this review.
Draw a Stickman: EPIC currently has 30% off the above price and it will be running until 17th September
Have you ever wanted to create your own hero? Have you ever wanted to dictate who it is that needs to be saved? Well Hitcents’ Draw a Stickman: EPIC could fulfill those needs. You take control of your very own hand drawn hero either with hand gestures using the Kinect, or with the controller if Kinect isn’t really your thing.
In Draw a Stickman: EPIC you are tasked with using your created hero to rescue your friend you drew from the evil clutches of Zarp. Throughout your quest you will have to face Zombies, Dragons and massive Armakillos among other creatures trying to stop you from finding your friend. To even the odds in each level you will be able to use different pencils that will aid you in defeating enemies and progressing through each level.
Even stick zombies like brains…
There are 13 main story levels each filled with puzzles and obstacles to navigate. Each level has a hidden puzzle piece and colour buddy to find. If you find all the puzzle pieces, a bonus level is unlocked and each colour buddy gives you access to a new colour to draw with when creating your stickman (you can change your stickman drawing at any time on the level select menu).
There are 4 different pencils you can draw with in the game, each with their own ability. The first pencil is the fire pencil. Just draw some fire and use this to light things on fire such as torches, some enemies, wooden doors etc. The second pencil is the cloud pencil which can create rain to extinguish fires or fill a bucket with water for example. The cloud pencil doubles up to create lightning as well. Just draw a cloud and colour it in and you have lightning which you can use to start up anything electrical. The third pencil is the key pencil, which is pretty self explanatory. Lastly there is the Axe pencil, which again doesn’t really need explaining.
In each level, you will be given the relevant pencils you need to get you through the level and solve the puzzles. As you progress through the game the levels will begin to have several exits to different levels. To find all the exits you’ll need to solve various puzzles making use of all the pencils given to you.
As far as the controls go, they are fairly easy to use. You control your stickman with the left analogue stick, pick your pencil you want to draw with using up and down on the d-pad then confirm your choice with X and you draw by holding down the right trigger. If you are playing with the Kinect, you draw hand gestures. Now I didn’t get too much time in on the Kinect whilst playing but from what I did, I found the gestures to react really well and I didn’t really have any issues with the Kinect picking up my movements at all. But, even when playing with Kinect, you can only use it for drawing things. Regarding playing the game with the controller, every now and then I would stop moving. There is one level where you need to run away from an area to avoid an explosion and on several occasions whenever I changed direction, my stickman would just stop moving. I found using the controller to draw things became a bit tedious because of the lack of fluidity in the movement of the cursor. Trying to draw anything circular was a bit of a nightmare, but that isn’t really something that could be helped when using the controller. Freehand drawing just doesn’t lend itself well to a controller.
I think my biggest issue was having to keep re-drawing axes and/or keys. For whatever reason, after using them 3 times they just disappeared. So having to re-draw them over and over became quite frustrating and that is probably the only reason I still have 200+ trees to chop down to finish the game up completely.
Getting my Paul Bunyan on!
Something I really enjoyed in Draw a Stickman: EPIC was the art style. The simple drawings used to show the environment and the enemies just work so well. It really makes you think you’re wandering around in a sketchbook.
Time for the achievements. There are handful of achievements that require to perform specific tasks throughout the levels, such as firing yourself out of a cannon. You get some for unlocking all the levels, finding all the collectibles and drawing 1000 fires, cutting down 1000 trees and opening 1000 containers. There is one achievement that is a little bit glitchy and that is the Sconce Boss achievement which requires you to light all the torches in the final level. If you do what it says you will be given 5% towards the achievement but there is a way around this. Just keep lighting them, extinguishing them, then re-lighting them and it will eventually unlock.
Overall I was left with a smile on my face after playing through Draw a Stickman: EPIC. The art style is wonderful, the puzzles will sometimes leave you scratching your head but they aren’t too difficult and being able to draw your own hero and your own take on fire, clouds etc make it a joy to play. Yes, there are small issues with the controls sometimes being non responsive and having to re-draw keys and axes can become irritating but that doesn’t take away from the overall experience Draw a Stickman: EPIC gives you as a gamer.
A lot of people will probably be aware of BADLAND before it ventured onto the Xbox One because of its huge success on the tablet platform. I am not one of those people, so I came into BADLAND with no expectations what-so-ever.
BADLAND is described as a side scrolling adventure with physics based gameplay. You control a bat like creature called Clony. Clony has the unique ability to create clones of himself by picking up clone power-ups during the levels and without them, you wont be surviving long at all. You are tasked with getting Clony and as many of his clones through each level alive.
Save as many as you can.
You control Clony by tapping or holding the ‘A’ button by making him fly. If you let go of the A button, Clony descends. It took me a while to get used to the physics of the flying but once you’ve got it down the controls work really well giving you a surprising amount of precision, which is definitely needed later on. This really gave it a flappy bird feel with some of the obstacles, but the flying similarities is where it ends.
The single player element to the game has 100 levels to fly through and they are split up into 4 sections, Day I, Daydream, Day II and Doomsday. Each level has an element of danger involved for Clony to avoid. These dangers range from falling rocks to dangerous traps. To help get Clony through the traps, the clone power-up is essential. For the majority of traps you’re only going to be able to make it through alive by sacrificing a large number of your clones. There are many instances in the game where you have to go in two or three separate directions to progress. As an example, in one level, there is a part where you have to send clones to press two different buttons so the barriers open for the surviving clones.
Danger everywhere!
Cloning isn’t the only power-up littered throughout the levels. Other power-ups in the game that can be picked include ones that slow the level down, speeds it up, increases and decreases Clony’s size. These power-ups play a huge part in the game. If you aren’t paying attention to the upcoming obstacle or trap, there is a big chance you are going to die because you didn’t pick up the relevant power-up. Even from the beginning this is a huge part of the game. You need to increase your size to be big enough to move a stick out of your way, then small enough to fit through a tiny gap. For the most part the necessary power-ups are placed in easy to reach areas as you progress through the levels, but there are times when you have to be choosy with which ones to pick up, especially the speed up ones.
With BADLAND being a side-scroller you get an added urgency to the game. If you take too long to progress through an obstacle or trap, the screen keeps on moving and destroys your clones. No more clones on the screen equals gameover. Dying in BADLAND is a given. You’re going to die and you’re going to die a lot. This is where some of the levels can be extremely frustrating. For the majority of the game, the checkpoints given are pretty generous. If you die from a certain trap, you’ll be placed just before the trap so you can go again. However, there are several levels you have to do in one try. None of the one try levels are long, but some of them are nigh on impossible to finish in one try without a lot of trial and error. One of the latter such levels comes to mind where every obstacle I ended up dying and retrying because I kept going the wrong way. The screen moves so fast in some instances, unless you know where you need to go before you get there, you aren’t going to survive. To add to the frustration level, there are many traps that you can only get through with some pretty precise flying. If you keep your cool throughout playing BADLAND then I salute you.
Each level has three missions to complete which usually revolve around dying less than ‘x’ amount of times, saving ‘x’ amount of clones or picking up / not picking up certain power-ups. There are other types of missions, but these make up the majority. Along with these missions being tracked at the end of each level you also have a counter for the number of clones you’ve saved. You can retry each level at any time to try and increase how many clones you saved.
Something I found to be a bit strange was the lack of any sort of story to follow. I assumed there would be some sort of cutscene or something just to give the gamers some more information. I was a bit concerned that I would struggle to stay engaged with it and I’d consider it to be more of a time waster that I could pick up and play for 5 minutes. After playing it for several hours I couldn’t have been more wrong. I was pulled in by the stunning art work and visuals. As you can see from the screenshots, the environment you play in and Clony are black, like shadows and it reminded me very much of Limbo. The backdrops of each level are stunning and vibrant, which really offsets against the shadows brilliantly.
Stunninng.
Along with the single player, BADLAND also offers offline co-op and multiplayer modes for up to 4 players. The co-op mode features the same 100 levels from single player but you each control your own character, giving each level a fresh look. At first I was a bit skeptical at having the same levels in co-op, but doing them in co-op completely changes the way the levels play. Co-op play is probably the best mode BADLAND has to offer and it is a real shame there are no online capabilities because a lot of gamers simply don’t have a local co-op partner to enjoy this mode with. The multiplayer pits you against each other rather than working together. It features 27 stages for you to choose from to battle it out. Again, this mode is really entertaining but could have been so much more accessible as an online feature too.
Everything is better with friends.
Onto the achievements for BADLAND and this list is not one for the feint hearted. You’re going to need to save 3000 clones in single and multiplayer, complete 300 missions in single and muliplayer, completing 80 unique levels without dying as well as doing specific things during certin levels. After finishing all 100 single player levels, I saved roughly 800 clones, so unless you are extremely gifted at this game, you are going to be replaying the levels over and over to increase the amount of clones you have saved. I definitely wouldn’t say to avoid BADLAND because of the achievements list, just be aware of it if you are a completionist, especially if you don’t have anyone to help you out with the local co-op.
BADLAND doesn’t really have a story to follow, but that’s okay. The strong physics based gameplay coupled with the beautifully done visuals more than make up for that. Yes, BADLAND will frustrate you and it really does need some online support because, let’s face it, not everyone has a willing buddy or family member to play with. Even taking those issues into account, BADLAND is a great side-scrolling adventure and I can see why it was so popular on the tablet platform. There might be some people moaning that another mobile game has been ported to the Xbox One and it clearly isn’t ‘next gen’, but BADLAND doesn’t play like a mobile game in the slightest. BADLAND adds to the list that gives gamers another example as to why the ID@Xbox program is so important. It really is bringing great games to the Xbox community and BADLAND is the latest great game.
Beach Buggy Racing is a kart racer brought to the Xbox One by Vector Unit. Originally a free to play mobile game, Vector Unit opted to charge an up front cost with everything available without the need for micro transactions. Did Beach Buggy Racing port over to the Xbox One successfully? Let’s find out.
Upon starting up Beach Buggy Racing you are introduced to the game mechanics, controls etc in a quick tutorial. Once you know how to drive, use your special and fire off the power-ups you can pick up around the track you can get into the meat of the game. Something I struggled with was how to boost off the starting line. I looked everywhere in the tutorials and controls and it isn’t mentioned, but it can be found on the main menu under the Pro Tips section (Tap A just before it says GO!).
As mentioned briefly above, you can pick up power-ups on the track in the form of question marks in floating bubbles, which is pretty much a given in most kart racers. Although this isn’t a new idea, I found it quite staggering just how many power-ups there are available in the game. I think I must have had at least 10 races before I had seen every power-up. They range from shields to protect from damage to remote controllers that lets you control another driver. In total there are 27 unique power-ups available from the beginning. No need to unlock them or buy them with coins. I was blown away by the sheer selection.
Variety is the spice of life!
The actual gameplay for a kart racer is brilliant. The graphics aren’t quite next-gen but the amount of fun to be had more than makes up for that. All 15 tracks have their own themes with several shortcuts you need to learn if you want to be able to compete in the latter stages of the game. My biggest gripe with the gameplay was the cheap AI. On countless occasions I would get spammed by homing missiles just before the finish line, or in a one on one the character I was up against would use their special ability over and over during the race. Although it can be annoying, this is part and parcel of kart racers.
Just one example of the themed tracks.
The game consists of five different modes, Career, Daily Challenges, Championships, Quick Race and Split Screen. You’ll probably be spending the majority of your time in Career, which tasks you with gaining 3 stars on every event for each cup. There are a few different events, Race, Boost Blitz, Elimination, Shooting Gallery, Stampede and Follow the Leader. Each event has specific criteria you have to meet in order to successfully gain 3 stars. The final event for each cup has you going one on one against one of the other characters. If you successfully beat them, then you unlock the next cup and that character to use.
Why is unlocking new characters such a big deal you ask? Well, each character has their own special ability which you can use once per event. As an example, Rez has the Burning Rubber special which gives you a massive speed boost and leaves behind a trail of fire that can knock your opponents of their vehicles.
Whenever you complete a race you get coins, how much depends on how well you do. These coins are then used to upgrade your vehicle. You can upgrade your Acceleration, Top Speed, Handling and Strength. If you want to stay competitive in Beach Buggy Racing, you need to make sure you keep on top of your upgrades. Once you have upgraded your stats to the max you can upgrade your HP to make your vehicle even more powerful, maxing out at 1000HP
Maxed out.
All the vehicles are unlocked from the get go, but if you switch vehicles, remember that the upgrades are only fitted to the car you bought it for. It can be rough going from a fully upgraded 1000HP vehicle to one that has only just been upgraded to 1000HP.
Onto the next mode we have Daily Challenge. Self explanatory really, each day there is a different event and if you complete it you get some coins for your troubles, which increase each day you return and complete another daily challenge.
In the Championships mode you have a number of events to complete. If you place 1st overall you get three stars and can progress to the next Championship for that car. Each car has 4 Championships, 100HP, 250HP, 500HP and 1000HP. If you want to complete all of them you are going to have to upgrade all of your vehicles to 1000HP, which is going to take some time.
Quick Race is self explanatory as is split-screen. You are able to play up to six players in split screen mode which is nice. I played a few events with my four year old son and we had a blast. The controls are simple enough for younger gamers to have fun whilst still being enjoyable for older gamers too.
Six players.
The biggest selling point for me, by far is the amount of content you get. Had this kept the free to play model, you would have been drip fed everything and it probably would have been tedious to unlock the stuff you want to use in the game, or expensive. With everything available it gives you a vast variety of things to do. With the Career mode alone you’ve got yourselves a decent sized kart racer.
For the achievement hunters out there, the achievements aren’t going to come thick and fast. You’re going to need to complete all championships for five cars, earn all three stars in every event in the Career mode and the two that really stand out are for earning 1,000,000 coins and driving 9,289km (both of which I am currently at 6%). There are also some random ones for using certain power-ups which are a bit luck based unless you can do them in split-screen. So if you are a completionist, just be aware that Beach Buggy Racing isn’t going to be a quick completion.
Beach Buggy Racing has a lot of similarities to most kart racers, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. One of my all time favourites growing up as a kid was Mario Kart and although it isn’t on the same level, it’s good enough to want me to keep coming back for more and put a smile on my face when I play it. The tracks are all unique, the gameplay is immensely fun and the amount of content on offer is pretty staggering. It isn’t perfect though. The AI can be frustrating and cheap at times, the graphics aren’t really next-gen level and there is definitely a need for some online multiplayer. But these are just small annoyances which can most certainly be overlooked. If you’re a fan of kart racers, be sure to give Beach Buggy Racing a go.
Xbox ONE [Reviewed], PS4, PS3, PS Vita, Wii U, Steam
Release Date
05/08/15
Developer
Carbon
Publisher
Curve Digital
Modes
Single player, Local Co-op
I’ve heard a lot about Robotron 2084 and just how amazing it is but I am ashamed to say I have never played it. When I first started to play Ultratron I was hearing it was a throwback to Robotron 2084, so that’s got to be a good thing right?
For those of you who don’t know anything (like me) about Robotron 2084 it was a top down twin-stick shooter and Ultraton fits the same mold. Ultratron is extremely fast paced and frenetic in it’s gameplay which pits you against hordes of enemy robots wave after wave.
You start off as a lonely robot with the ability to shoot. As you progress through the waves you get access to more and more upgrades to enhance your destructive abilities. These range from smart bombs and grenades to pets and drones (more on those in a minute). Every time an enemy is destroyed they leave behind dots which can be collected and used as credits to buy the various upgrades on offer at the end of each wave. Along with upgrades that make you more powerful there are defensive upgrades too. You can even upgrade your life count (shields) which have a set price based on how many you currently own.
More upgrades than you can shake a stick at!
As I mentioned briefly earlier, you can buy pets and there are three to choose from; Shooty Pet, Laser Pet and Rocket Pet. They can each be upgraded and leveled up to increase their power and once you own them they cannot die. If they get hit they just stop fighting for you until you walk over them to save them. By the time you have leveled them all up you will be feeling unstoppable. The sheer amount of rockets and bullets flying around the screen by your pets is crazy.
Along with upgrades you can buy, there are power-ups which get dropped by little spiders. Again, there’s an array to choose from and if you decide not to pick them up, they stay there until you do or they get blown up meaning you can stack power-ups making you truly unstoppable for a limited time.
Three times the fun.
Ultratron doesn’t really have a story to follow but unlike most other games, that doesn’t really detract from the experience. In all honesty, any sort of storyline would probably detract from the gameplay and serve more as a slight breather from the fast paced action.
Each chapter is split into 10 waves, the tenth wave being a boss. In each chapter you also get challenge waves to shoot all the spiders, dodge waves to dodge all enemies without shooting them and assault waves for a chance to earn some extra credits.
The boss waves start off quite tame. At the end of the boss wave a massive robot appears slowly moving around the screen shooting you. Obviously the further you go in the game the tougher the bosses get. As an example, level 100 pits you against three of them at once…and it gets manic.
Uh-oh…
The visuals for Ultratron really suit the game. The 8bit/16bit graphics do it no harm what-so-ever and remember that’s coming from a guy who didn’t play Robotron. The colors really pop and the neon purples for the eyes of the pets etc are pretty cool too. The music is just as good as the gameplay, it fits with the craziness going on screen and keeps you engaged really well.
My only real hang up with Ultratron is the lack of online multiplayer. It does feature a local co-op experience but I didn’t really have anyone to try it out with for a prolonged period of time. What I was able to play it was just as solid as the single player experience.
As far as the achievements go, there are a handful of achievements for stacking certain power ups and upgrades to make super weapons. This requires a bit of planning and careful movements so you don’t accidentally pick up a power-up. Others include beating certain bosses, leveling up your pets and maxing out your shields. There is currently 1 glitched achievement but the Developer’s are aware of this and a patch is incoming. So don’t let the achievements scare you away from this great title.
Ultratron had a lot to live up to considering it was being compared to Robotron, and as far as I am concerned it delivered on all accounts. Although online multiplayer or co-op would have been excellent, there is more than enough going for it to make up for it. Ultratron should be held in it’s own esteem as a wonderfully made twin-stick shooter and it deserves to be mentioned in the same sentences as the best ones out there.
This entry is part [part not set] of 15 in the series Destiny
These appear to be random. I would assume that you need to get at least to 20 and possibly to an even higher Light level to get one to spawn. I got one once I reached Crucible rank 2 (3,500 total rep). [I’ve now gotten 4 Exotic Bounties and Bam has gotten 2. It’s completely 100% random] When you do get the trigger the Bounty Tracker will offer you 3 Gold Bounties with somewhat obscure descriptions. These bounties are for Exotic Weapons and are really quests with multiple parts to receive your reward. As we find and do these we will be creating guides to help you unlock them.
Track down Fireteam Tuyet’s last stand.
Destination: Venus – Patrol
Head to the city area from the first few missions on Venus. Just past the large statue is a small building on the left. Enter and on the left will be Dead Ghost you need to scan.
DAMAGED GHOST – Kill a Vex Gate Lord with the Heroic modifier active.
Destination: Venus – Eye of a Gate Lord (Mission)
You need to complete this mission with the Heroic modifier which means you need to do it on level 17 or above. Then simply complete the mission by killing the Vex Gate Lord at the end.
RESTORED GHOST – Bring the Unlocked Ghost to the Speaker in the Tower.
Destination: Tower
Pretty easy step. Just go to the Speaker to continue.
FUSION RIFLE SCHEMATICS – Bring the Fusion Rifle schematics to the Gunsmith.
Destination: Tower
Now just take it to the Gunsmith.
DEPLETED EXOTIC WEAPON CORE – Charge the Core by dismantling 10 Rare or higher quality Fusion Rifles
Destination: Loot Farming
So if you get really really lucky the Gunsmith will be selling Rare Fusion Rifles. I have seen him selling rares but not Fusions Rifles yet so I don’t know if you can buy just one or as many as you want. You can check the Bungie.net website and under Tower select the Gunsmith to see what he is currently selling. It refreshed every 3 hours. Your most expensive option is to buy Fusion Rifles from the Crucible or Vanguard Quartermasters. You need to be Faction 3 and they will cost you 150 Marks. Other than that you will need to get Secondary Weapon Engrams and hope they become Fusion Rifles of Rare or Legendary status. Check out our Farming Guide HERE for locations you can try to farm Rare Engrams and just hope for the best. Of course anything that has a possibility of Engrams will work so you can play Crucible or Strikes or whatever your heart desires as long as you end up Dismantling 10 Fusion Rifles at the end. The Bounty does have a tracker so you can check your progress.
CHARGED EXOTIC WEAPON CORE – Bring the Charged Core to the Gunsmith.
Destination: Tower
Now just take it to the Gunsmith.
UNSTABLE PROTOTYPE FUSION FRAME – Kill enemies in a Weekly Nightfall Strike until the Fusion Rifle stabilizes.
Destination: Weekly Strike Mission
You need to be high level to even be allowed to try Nightfall Strikes and they are level 28. You need to get 200 kills within these Strikes to finish this section. Nightfall is if your party dies you have to start the entire thing over. Take note that you need to use Fusion Rifles for the kills to count. The kills do not start counting until you get into the darkness area. The low level enemies outside of the actual strike area do not count but once you are fighting level 28s all of these kills count. Only your kills count for this one but you’ll want a full team to help out. If you want to bust this out solo I would suggest a LOT of Special Ammo Synthesis. Make sure you just bypass any opening area low level mobs as these don’t count towards your total.
My Summoning Pit Run:
Sparrow until I get past the 3 opening Knights and into the Strike proper. In the first real area you can still respawn. You want to immediately kill the two Thralls that are just sitting there when you get into the area. Then I bum rush the 3 Acolytes and try to one shot them point blank. If I can move on to next then fine, if I die then I bum rush the next. When these 5 enemies are dead I hug the left ledge and rush to the first REAL area. Here set your Ghost and then turn towards the room and jump to the left platform. Thralls will rush you from the door in front of you and this is where you get your kills. When the Knights show up I try to clean up any Thralls left lingering and then let the Knights kill me to restart. Get about 20 a run.
STABILIZED PROTOTYPE – Return the Prototype to the Gunsmith
Destination: Tower
Turn this in to the Gunsmith and you get your Pocket Infinity!
A Dubious Task – Exotic Weapon Bounty (Invective – Shotgun)
A Dubious Task is the Exotic Weapon Bounty that will allow you to unlock the Exotic Shotgun, the “Invective”. This is my personal first exotic bounty(This is Bam BTW) so I’m gonna show you step by step how I unlocked it and what you need to do. As I was turning in some bounties to Xander 99-40 I was thrilled when I saw that I had luckily got a chance to do an Exotic Weapon Bounty. It’s all luck really, just keep turning in bounties and eventually hopefully you’ll get one.
Talk to Ikora Rey.
Destination: Tower
For our first step we simply need to go to Ikora Rey to get PART I of our bounty. She is the Warlock Vanguard, found in the Hall of Guardians in the Tower. Simply talk to her and accept first part of the bounty.
A REQUEST FROM IKORA PART I – Complete a total of 5 Strikes without dying.
Destination: Earth (Strike Mission Devil’s Lair)
This seems like it would difficult, but it’s not hard at all, just time consuming. Go to Earth and select the strike mission, Devil’s Lair. Beat it five times without dying to complete this step. This does not have to be consecutive.
There are three different section of the strike. One tasks you with defeating waves of enemies, the next asks you to beat a giant robot spider and last you need to beat Sepris Prime, who is a giant purple mechanical eyeball. The main thing you have to do is not get cocky. Don’t attack everything and everyone with reckless abandon. Take your time, watch your health, and just get it done. The picture below will show you three very important spots to stay safe and not get killed.
For the first section, stay up on the catwalk and stay to the far right — For the second section, stay all the way back behind this tractor trailer and stand on the hood — For the last section, stay back and to the left by the stairway
A REQUEST FROM IKORA – COMPLETED – Bring the completed request to Ikora
Destination: Tower
A REQUEST FROM IKORA PART II – Earn a Kills\Death spread of 25 in the Crucible
Destination: Crucible
Now you must head back to Ikora in the Hall of Guardians to turn on PART I and get PART II. The next part of the bounty asks you to get a 25 KD spread in Crucible! That’s some Cruci-bull-shit!!!! Now at first I thought, as well as a lot of the internet, that you needed to get 25 kills and 0 or 1 death. Thankfully this is not the case. It’s not a 25 kill death ratio, it’s a 25 kill death spread. Meaning you need to get 25 more kills than deaths. So that could mean going 40 kills and 15 deaths or 50 and 25 or even if it took you forever you could go 500 and 475. It’s over as many games as it takes. For me it took just two matches. After the first game, that I joined late, I was at 6 out of the 25. Then I played the next match and I kept checking the bounty to see that it was moving up and up until I got the 25. As soon as you obtain the 25 kill death spread you are done. It will tell you in game and even on the kill feed so anyone and everyone can see that you finished that step. After you get the 25 kill death spread you can even die a bunch and it still won’t change anything. When you get it you get it. Once your match is done head back to the tower and talk to Ikora again.
A REQUEST FROM IKORA – COMPLETED – Bring the completed request to Ikora
Destination: Tower
A REQUEST FROM IKORA – PART II – Complete a Weekly Challenge Acivity
Destination: The Standard Weekly or Nightfall Strike Mission
Once you talk to Ikora again you will be tasked with completing one of the weekly challenges, strikes. Each week Bungie resets the weekly strike mission for all of us to do. For me, this weekly challenge was the Strike on the moon. Just pick the easiest level possible, it usually starts at 22. You can go it along, but it’s probably smarter to take a fire team with you. As soon as you’ve beaten it you will see that you’ve finished that step in the bounty, your bounty now also looks completely with a purple orb as the icon. Now you need to head back to Ikora again.
A CLOT OF DARKNESS – Return to Ikori Rey
Destination: Tower
INVECTIVE [UNCHARGED] – Purchase an Invective shotgun component from the Gunsmith
Destination: Tower
Now that we’ve talked to Ikora again it’s time to go to the Gunsmith, Exo. You will see a green arrow above his head, he is right next to the awkward looking tree in the very start of the tower. When you talk to him you will see that he has something purchasable on the top right corner. This is shotgun parts that Ikora needs. Except if you want to get the part [Golden Age Shotgun Magazine] from Exo you will need to trade in 50 Special Ammo Synthesis. You probably have a few already, so to get the rest just buy them right there from the Gunsmith. Each one costs 250 glimmer. So you’ll need a lot saved up. 50 special ammo consumables costs 12,500 glimmer! Once you have 50, which you can see tracked by highlighting the shotgun parts your about to trade in for, get the parts and be on your way.
INVECTIVE [UNCHARGED] – Return Invective to Ikora Rey so she can integrate the component
Destination: Tower
Now that we have the shotgun parts, take them back to Ikora in the Hall of Guardians in the tower. All we need to do now is just select the bounty as soon as we talk to her and BAM we have our brand new sexy exotic shot gun! The Invective!
Hope all of this has helped! Thanks!
-Bam
A Light In The Dark – Exotic Weapon Bounty (Thorn – Hand Cannon)
Complete “The Summoning Pits” Strike on the Moon.
Destination: Moon
This first part is just to complete “The Summoning Pits” on the Moon which is a standard level 12 Strike.
DEPLETED HAND CANNON – Harvest the energies of Hive on the Moon to activate the weapons
Destination: Moon, The Dark Beyond Mission
You need to kill 500 Hive. The best place is the The Dark Beyond missions. Do it on a level that you can be damaged. Fight your way to the Temple of Crota. Here you want to kill the Hive that rush the door and then die BEFORE killing the Knight. This will respawn the encounter and you can farm kills until you have 500. If you have people with you their kills count towards your 500.
DEPLETED HAND CANNON – Use Void Damage to defeat Guardians in the Crucible. Death will slow your progress.
Destination: Crucible
First you have to have weapons with Void. That’s the Purple Swirl type of damage. You can play any list you want. You will get +5 points for each death due to Void damage and you will lose -2 points for every death you have. You need 500 points to advance to the next stage so if you are perfect this is 100 kills.
CORRUPTED HAND CANNON – Bring the hand cannon to the Speaker.
Destination: Tower
CORRUPTED HAND CANNON – Cleanse yourself and the weapon with an infusion of Light.
Destination: Tower
You need to buy this from the Speaker for 1 Mote of Light.
CORRUPTED HAND CANNON – Bring the weapon to Ikora Rey.
Destination: Tower
Ikora Rey is the Warlock Vanguard.
CORRUPTED THORN – Kill Xyor, the Unwed
Destination: Moon – Special The Summoning Pits Strike
This is a level 26 strike. You need to fight your way through to the final boss area with Phogoth. Now keep killing the Knights and Acolytes and all the other mobs but leave Phogoth alive. Xyor, the Unwed will spawn from the third drop ship that arrives at the bottom area. You can stay in the second room right before Phogoth and work enemies from there. Don’t stay in the room right outside as a Shrieker will spawn in this room. You then need to kill Xyor who is a high level Wizard. You can finish the Strike or leave once the bounty updates.
UNBOUND THORN – Return to the Speaker
Destination: Tower
Go to the Speaker and he will give you Thorn. Congrats you have a Exotic Hand Cannon.
A Voice In The Wilderness – Exotic Weapon Bounty (Super Good Advice – Machine Gun)
This is by far the easiest of all the Exotic weapon bounties. The only tricky part is that you have to wait til Xur shows up during the weekends. Other than that this will take you about an hour, if that.
A VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS – Search loot caches on Mars for clues.
Destination: Mars
You will randomly find the item you are looking for from loot chests. Just keep working standard farming loops through the city and caves until you get the item. It could be in the first or it could take you 20 or more chests. Just search through one area until you’ve looked at all the spots chests are found, if it’s not there move on. You can even look back in old spots where you already searched, a new chest might appear and it might be in there. You only need to find the one fortunate chest. It took me 20 minutes, it can take much shorter or much longer depending on your luck.
A VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS – COMPLETED- Hand in the Machine Gun
Destination: The Tower
Now what we need to do is go to the tower and visit the Gunsmith. This is extremely simple. Just head to the Gunsmith and he will give you the next step of the bounty, which is going to be checking in on Xur, the agent of the nine.
A MOURNFUL GUN – Acquire a Pristine Golden Age Ammunition Module from Xur, the Agent of the Nine.
Destination: The Tower
Xur is the agent of the nine who sells exotic goods on weekends for strange coins and motes of light. He moves around in many different places throughout the tower each week. For me he was under Future War Cult area in the Tower Hanger. Make sure you have one strange coin, if you don’t have one play the strike of the week and you’ll be rewarded with at least 3. There are other ways to get strange coins as well. Find Xur and you will be given an option to acquire a Pristine Golden Age Ammunition Module for one strange coin. Do that and you’re on to the next step.
(PS… Check out this handy page that tells you all of the goodness that Xur is selling each week! http://gameguidecentral.com/destiny-xur-agent-nine-exotic-stock/)
A PLEASED MACHINE GUN FRAME – Kill enemies with Machine Guns (500).
Destination: Anywhere (Moon: The Dark Beyond recommended)
I recommend buying some Heavy Ammo Synthesis from the gunsmith before you get going. You will get some heavy ammo drops, but it’s easier to buy a few of these instead.
You can kill 500 enemies with Heavy Machine Guns anywhere, but I think the best place is on Moon on the story mission THE DARK BEYOND. At just level 6 you will rip through the bad guys and there’s a part of the mission where you open a huge gate and swarms of Hive come rushing through like cockroaches on steroids. Play the mission up until the cut-scene when you try to revive a dead guardian. Kill all the enemies with your heavy machine gun EXCEPT FOR THE KNIGHT! DO NOT KILL THE KNIGHT! After you take down a bunch of the enemies stop shooting and let the knight kill you. If you allow the knight to kill you it will reset you at the beginning of the gate opening and you can destroy the hive over and over, picking up heavy ammo and using your synthesis when needed. Keep doing this until you get your 500 kills. It should take you less than 10 minutes.
AN ENTHUSIASTIC GUN – Bring the frame to the Gunsmith.
Destination: Tower
Last step is as easy as it gets. Fly back to the Tower and visit the gunsmith again. He will have your brand new shiny new gun smell exotic heavy machine gun waiting for you. The “Super Good Advice” is the name of the gun. It has high fire rate and slightly low impact. It’s got some good abilities to unlock like really fast reload and much higher stability. It’s special features are that it get’s upgraded damage for a period of time with a kill and missed shots have a good chance of returning directly back into the clip.
I hope this helped, good luck and thanks!
-Bam
Complete a Weekly Heroic or Nightfall Strike.
Destination: Standard Weekly or Nightfall Strike.
Obviously the weekly will be a lot easier to complete.
TOLAND’S JOURNAL [FRAGMENTED] – Bring the Journal to Ikora Rey, the Warlock Vanguard in the Tower.
Destination: Tower
TOLAND’S JOURNAL [FRAGMENTED] – Track down the fragments of Toland’s Journal by completing Strikes on any Destination
Destination: Strike Playlist
You now need to complete 25 strikes of any kind. You can directly pick from a planet, do Strike Playlist, Weekly, Nightfall whatever just do 25 to completion.
TOLAND’S JOURNAL [ENCRYPTED] – Bring the Journal to Ikora Rey
Destination: Tower
For the millionth time. Ikora Rey is the Warlock Vangaurd.
TOLAND’S JOURNAL [DECRYPTED] – Bring the Journal to the Gunsmith
BLACK MARKET COUPON – Obtain a darkness infused weapon frame from Xur.
Destination: Tower
Xur is only in game from Friday morning to Sunday morning. His location changes week to week. This part will cost you 1 Strange Coin.
DARKNESS-INFUSED WEAPON FRAME – Bring the weapon frame to the Gunsmith
DARKNESS-INFUSED PULSE RIFLE – Defeat Guardians in the Crucible.
Destination: Crucible
10,000 points. No negatives for deaths just grind the kills out.
SATED PULSE RIFLE – Return the weapon to the Gunsmith.
Just go back to the Gunsmith and he will give you your brand new Exotic Bad Juju!
With the addition of title update 5 Titanfall has added 3 new daily challenges to give XP, Black Market currency and possibly some burn cards. You can have up to 9 active at any time. We will try to keep this list updated so that you can look for things you might want to jump in and work on. The game will only give you new challenges if you have space for them. Meaning if you start a day with 8 challenges, you will only get 1 new one when you log in.
