Review: The Swindle

The Swindle
box_theswindle_w160
Cost
$14.99
Format
Digital
Size
650.5 MB
Available On
Xbox ONE [Reviewed]
Release Date
8/7/15
Developer
Carbon
Publisher
Curve Digital
Modes
Single

PROS:
1) Excellent graphics and music that captures 19th century steampunk London perfectly
2) Deep rewarding gameplay

CONS:
1) Steep difficulty curve
1) Procedurally generated levels sometimes present impassable situations

9.0
Phenominal

 

Review: Bridge Constructor

Bridge Constructor
box_bridgeconstructor_w160
Cost
$9.99
Format
Digital
Size
279.19 MB
Available On
Xbox ONE [Reviewed]
Release Date
8/21/15
Developer
Clockstone STUDIO
Publisher
Headup Games
Modes
Single

PROS:
1) Some fun to be had in small does

CONS:
1) Unrealistic and inconsistent physics
2) Lazy port of a 3 year old game
3) Atrocious UI

5.0
Dull

 

Review: Super Mega Baseball: Extra Innings

Super Mega Baseball: Extra Innings
box_supermegabaseball_w160
Cost
$19.99
Format
Digital
Size
887.68 MB
Available On
Xbox ONE [Reviewed], PS4
Release Date
8/14/15
Developer
Metalhead Software Inc.
Publisher
Metalhead Software Inc.
Modes
Single, Local Mulitplayer

PROS:
1) Fast paced games
2) Easy to pick up even for Baseball novices
2) 100 difficulty levels makes game accessible to all skill levels

CONS:
1) Player graphics a little rough
2) No online mode

8.0
Excellent

 

Review: Q.U.B.E. Director’s Cut

Q.U.B.E. Director’s Cut
box_qube_w160>
Cost
$9.99
Format
Digital
Size
1.28 GB
Available On
Xbox ONE [Reviewed]
Release Date
7/24/2015
Developer
Grip Games
Publisher
Grip Games
Modes
Single

PROS:
1) Almost perfect learning curve
2) Simple intuitive controls
3) Good puzzle Variety

CONS:
1) A little too Portal inspired
2) Poor ball physics

8
Excellent

 

Review: The Bridge

The Bridge
box_thebridge_w160
Cost
$9.99
Format
Digital
Size
428.82 MB
Available On
Xbox ONE [Reviewed], Xbox 360, PC
Release Date
8/14/2015
Developer
The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild
Publisher
The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild
Modes
Single Player

PROS:
1) Beautiful pencil shaded graphics
2) Well implemented original gameplay mechanics
3) Well paced game progression

CONS:
1) Straight port with no new content
2) Controls sluggish at times
3) Music and SFX minimal

7.5
Good

 

Review: Rory McIlroy PGA Tour

Rory McIlroy PGA Tour
box_rorymcilroypgatour_w160
Cost
$59.99
Format
Retail & Digital
Size
26.65 GB
Available On
Xbox ONE [Reviewed], PS4
Release Date
7/14/15
Developer
Tiburon
Publisher
Electronic Arts
Modes
Single & Multiplayer

“Welcome to Rory McIlroy’s Macaroni and Cheese Emporium! Where I, Rory McIlroy, personally delivers each and every bowl of Rory McIlroy’s Macaroni and Cheese to your table!” [ANNOUNCER VOICE] “Rory delivers from 3:00 to 3:12 every 23rd Wednesday.” I don’t know why but I got that stuck in my head while I played the extremely long titled EA Sports Rory McIlroy PGA Tour (Hereafter and thenceforth known as ESRMPT) but I am offering it up as a valid business idea to Mr McIlroy for the low, low cost of free Rory McIlroy’s Mac and Cheese for life. Say it out loud, it just rolls right off the tongue. Rory McIlroy’s Mac and Cheese. Gold mine.

Anywho, Tiger Wood’s reign of terror over the golf video game world has come to an end and it’s time for Rory McIlroy to take over. Is ESRMPT the same old same old, a reboot, or something entirely different? Let’s find out together as we head down the road to RMMACE and have some Mac and Cheese and go over the game.

Let’s get a few negatives out of the way. The big one, you can only play Match play. The only option is to play a round and best overall score wins. No best ball, no best shot, no skins, no bingo bango bongo, no stableford. OK I think I made my point. Wait, one more. No chapman. (I actually used all the ones I know in the first part. Thanks Google!) The point being a lot of these have been in previous EA golf games so their omission on this new flagship launch is disappointing and really limits what you can do in multiplayer as far as tournaments with your friends.

Number 2 disappointment is there is no Masters. You do progress through the FedEx Cup and there is a mixture of real tournaments like the Players Championship intermixed with made up tournaments like the Bioware Classic. A lot of nods to EA properties throughout. But if you’re looking for a 100% recreation of the actual PGA Tour then you are out of luck.

The main mode for ESRMPT is the Pro Mode. You create a player from scratch and drive, chip and putt your way through the FedEx Cup. The game is downright gorgeous. From the players to the course everything looks amazing. There are 12 (13 with a pre-order which will be made available to everyone down the line) courses and it’s a good mix of painstakingly recreated real courses and some insane fantasy courses. The highlight for me is the 18 hole executive course (all par 3s) that is based on Battlefield. The commentary alone makes this a course you need to try out right away.

It seems every year golf games feel the need to come up with new ways of striking the ball. From the classic 3 point click to the left stick swing to ball shaping prior and/or during launch you are always having to remember and learn a new “better” way to play. EA Sports Rory McIlroy PGA Tour has finally done away with all that offering 3 main ways to play and even including a custom option where you can pick and choose the best of all 3 to create your own Frankenstein’ed gameplay.

Probably the biggest innovation is the way you play tournaments. Each tournament is played out over 4 rounds like the real deal. Four rounds of 18 holes is a LOT to play. I’m not going to do the math. Well ok I will, 72 holes per tournament is asking for burnout. So ESRMPT has a brilliant new feature. Highlight Rounds. Instead of playing all 18 holes you play a selected series of 4 or more holes and the game then simulates the rest of the round. It allows you to get a tournament done a lot faster, the downside being if you have a bad 5 holes the simulation is not going to come out in your favor. If you want to play out the whole thing you can, or highlight the first few rounds and then finish strong on your own 18 its entirely up to you.

Leveling up is automated with skills and equipment unlocked at every level. The way you give a little something special to your golfer is your ability to select skill boosters. Every 25 levels you get to add another one. Things like Power Hitter or Chip and Putt Specialist. All of these come with boosts to one area and negatives to another so it’s a real strategy to decide what you need and what you can give up to get it.

Multiplayer plays out in the new everyone goes at once fashion that is all the rage. Although it really speeds up play and is the go to choice now for most players I would of really liked to have seen an option to force a more traditional rules of golf mode.

Brand new is the Night Club Challenge mode. This is a series of golf challenges played out over 3 courses with over a 100 challenges to do. Putting, Target Practice, Chipping, just a huge selection of things to do. This mode also adds power-ups like power bursts and sticky balls that stop instantly when activated. It’s a lot of fun to play through but yet again I am left a little disappointed because there is no way to play with friends with all the power-ups you’ve earned.

Overall PGA Tour is a lot of fun and the things they got right this year far outweigh the slight misses. The complete lack of game modes to play with friends is the biggest set back but the additions to play styles and just how smooth the games plays makes it a lot of fun. I suggest you get yourself a bowl of Rory McIlroy’s Mac and Cheese and play a few round with friends today.

PROS:
1) It’s not The Golf Club
2) Lots of hitting options
3) Great looking golfers and courses
4) Good mix of real and fantasy courses

CONS:
1) Complete lack of modes

8.2
Excellent

 

Review: Batman: Arkham Knight

Batman: Arkham Knight
Batman akrham box
Cost
$59.99
Format
Retail, Digital
Size
45.4 GB
Available On
Xbox ONE [Reviewed], PS4, PC
Release Date
June 23, 2015
Developer
Rocksteady Studios
Publisher
Warner Bros.
Modes
Single Player

The Bat-signal has been lit--Gotham needs saving one last time...

The Bat-signal has been lit–Gotham needs saving–one last time…

In spring of 2007 Eidos acquired the rights to make a Batman game. In May of that year they appointed Rocksteady to handle the job. Rocksteady had only ever created one game prior to taking on the biggest name in super heroes; for many in the video game world, it didn’t seem like a great fit. At the time, and still to this day, making a great super hero/comic book game was nearly impossible. A few Spiderman games here and there worked out well, but overall the success in the super hero genre of games was few and far between. In August of 2008, Batman Arkham Asylum was first introduced. I personally remember being incredibly interested in the announcement, and I also remember many video game news outlets being very cautiously optimistic. The general vibe was, well it looks really good but it’s a super hero game so let’s not get our hopes up. And even later when those same people got a chance to play it pre-release at shows or backroom demos, I recall many of them still holding their breath. On August 25th 2009 those cautiously optimistic critics, fans, and gamers all collectively sighed in relief, while simultaneously having their breath taken away. Rocksteady created one of the best games in video game history and the new standard for superhero games in Arkham Asylum. They brilliantly took ideas and inspiration from games like Zelda, Metroid, and Bioshock. They brought in voice actors from the animated series and the story itself was based on little chunks from the comics and the series and it was all put together in an incredible game. The tone, eeriness, and graphics were all top notch. On top of that the gameplay was revolutionary. The brand new combat scheme was built around Batman’s fluidness and utter power, and many games have borrowed from the gameplay since. To go along with the top notch combat, Rocksteady added predator moments in the game, where each enemy is armed and dangerous and Batman picks them all off with terror inducing precision. In every category Arkham Asylum was a masterpiece. Just two years later Rocksteady added another first-class game to the series in, Arkham City. The story, set-piece moments, and sheer scale of the game were all pushed to new limits while still maintaining the core near flawless gameplay. Rocksteady was allowed four years to develop their third and final addition to the Batman Arkham series. (Batman Origins was developed by a different team, it was a fine game but nowhere near the excellence of the Rocksteady outputs.) Just like they were handed a challenging and downright nearly unfeasible task for the first Arkham game, creating a third and final act in this awesome trilogy that lives up to the first two was just as difficult.

Did Rocksteady handle this last mission and create a truly satisfying final moment for Batman in the Arkham universe? I can undoubtedly, without any remorse, say they absolutely did!

This is one of the many unlockable pieces of concept art available in the game. Often times a game can be great in concept, but the final product falls short. That's not the case at all in Arkham Knight. From start to finish, Rocksteady nailed it

This is one of the many unlockable pieces of concept art available in the game–often times a game can be great in concept, but the final product falls short. That is NOT the case at all in Arkham Knight. From start to finish, Rocksteady nailed it

Batman Arkham Knight takes place about a year after the events from Arkham City. Spoiler alert, Joker was killed at the end of Arkham City by the self-induced titan toxin he gave himself at the end of Arkham Asylum. Gotham doesn’t really know if Batman killed Joker or not, but they are truly just happy to see the menace gone. For months and months many waited to see when something else would rock Gotham back to its knees, but crime instead dropped and the city began to sigh in relief to its much calmer and safer home. Little did they know that Scarecrow had been working tirelessly on a chemical that had the potential to devastate Gotham like nothing else it has ever seen. On Halloween, a fitting night, Scarecrow dropped a small portion of his fear toxin on the city to show the world what it could do and draw Batman out of his cave. In one night Scarecrow wanted to humiliate Batman, take over Gotham, and show the world that fear was the ultimate weapon. To do so he asked nearly every nemesis of Batman to drum up trouble all over Gotham. Scarecrow even recruited a powerful new ally, who called himself the Arkham Knight, whose singular mission seemed to be killing Batman. All of this story is told in just the first few moments of the game, setting up what will obviously be one insane night for Batman.

The story in Arkham Knight is incredible and it truly drives the game. It’s hard to go into detail because there are many moments throughout the game that twist and turn in every direction. In short, without spoiling anything, I’ll say this. Scarecrow is handled wonderfully. He is handled like a man with a mission who truly wants to wreak havoc all over Gotham and eventually the world. It’s clear he wants to take down Batman, but before doing so he wants to make sure the world sees Batman as a failure and not a hero. If Scarecrow just simply kills the Batman, than he would go down as a martyr. But if he shows Batman himself, and the rest of the world, that Batman is a lowly man full of mistakes and regrets, than the world will lose hope in heroes and fall into utter fear. The mysterious Arkham Knight however just wants Batman dead, but he decides to go along with Scarecrow’s demands for now. To help, the Arkham Knight has a massive Militia that does every will of the Scarecrow and Knight. Who is the Arkham Knight? Why does he want Batman destroyed? That is revealed later in the game and it’s a very interesting plot twist. I obviously won’t spoil it. Sadly the reveal for who this masked Knight is was a bit anticlimactic. I personally thought they hinted too much at who it was just by some of the things he said and story elements that were provided leading up to the reveal. However it really comes around at the end of the game in an amazing way that, as a HUGE Batman fan, gave me goose bumps.

 

Batman faces against a new adversary who calls himself the Arkham Knight... It seems like much more than mere mockery, it seems personal. Who are you?!

Batman faces against a new adversary who calls himself the Arkham Knight… It seems like much more than mere mockery, possibly personal?
“Who are you?!”

Joker also plays a much bigger role in the game than I had anticipated. He has two separate roles with the story of the game, both of which are amazing. Joker is dead, he died in Arkham City and they even start out Arkham Knight with Joker being burned in an incinerator. I choose not to say one more thing about Joker’s role in the game, because I really want everyone to enjoy his surprise role. But I promise that you will not be disappointed. And to be honest, even though he is dead and he isn’t threatening Gotham the way Scarecrow or the Arkham Knight are, his role in this game is more interesting than anything in the game and anything in the previous titles. And that’s not to downplay the story in the Arkham trilogy or the Arkham Knight’s story. The story for these games has always been amazing; that’s just how GOOD Joker’s place is in this game that it even outplays everything else. It’s like the story in Arkham Knight and the whole trilogy get’s an A+ in my book. Joker in previous games gets an A+. Joker in Arkham Knight gets an A+++. I’ve already probably said to much, I don’t want to spoil anything, I just really want to get my point across about how much I love the Joker in this game.

The Joker was killed in the events of Arkham City--yet his role in Arkham Knight is his most powerful and interesting yet

The Joker was killed in the events of Arkham City–yet his mysterious role in Arkham Knight is his most powerful and interesting yet

Batman’s rollercoaster story in Arkham Knight is amazing as well. His character, who he is as a person and who he is as a hero are attacked all night long, but he forever stays strong. More important than anything to Batman are his loved ones. His friends and who he considers family are the most important things in his life. Even the city of Gotham is like family to him, no matter how much it beats himself up. The roles of Robin, Nightwing, Oracle/Barbara, and Commissioner Gordon are all so strong. Each of them comes to Batman’s rescue at different points of the game and each of them are also saved by Batman himself. Lucius Fox plays a big part and of course Alfred’s has his ever remarkable role as Batman’s friend, helper, fellow detective, butler, and father-like role. For the entire game Batman is thrown into tremendously difficult situations that put him in just as much emotional and psychological danger as they do physical danger. Every villain seems to want to get into Batman’s head, and there are situations where it seems like maybe Batman made the wrong choice in trying to save everyone. He always has the impossible task of balancing who he needs help from and who he doesn’t want to put in danger in the process. In the end, the story wraps up in a bittersweet way but in an extremely satisfying way at the same time. There’s an ending to the main story and than a “Knightfall” ending that can be unlocked once all the side-missions (called Most Wanted missions) are completed. This ending is filled with both mystery and satisfaction and it leaves the door open for Rocksteady to maybe continue to create games in the universe or someone else pick up a very interesting story at a pivotal place.

Along with the main story being phenomenal, the Most Wanted missions are also a huge success. Part of the reason Batman is such an incredible super hero is his villains and the varying characteristics they have. Some of the Most Wanted missions are very small and some are quite large. Of course Penguin and Two Face are in the game but so are many others, I won’t spoil them. The world building in the game is amazing. It really feels like the city is falling apart and it really feels like all the super villains are taking advantage. Radom thugs in the street or Militia members comment on every new twist and turn in all the different Most Wanted and Main Story moments. There’s little Batman universe Easter eggs all over that diehard fans will appreciate. I can’t wait to see what secrets begin to be revealed in the coming months. There’s a whole room in Arkham Asylum that took over a year for the fans to find that shows massive hints to Arkham City. And in City there was a boat that had Scarecrow’s information about his upcoming attack that takes place in Arkham Knight. Those are just a few of the hidden goodies in previous games, what does Gotham in the Arkham Knight have hidden about?

Batman hijacks and destroys a flying drone from above--the skies belong to the Dark Knight alone

Batman hijacks and destroys a flying drone from above–the skies belong to the Dark Knight alone

The gameplay is right on par with the previous games. There are four pillars of gameplay in the Arkham series; traversal, puzzles, combat, and predator mode. In Arkham Knight the big addition is the Batmobile, and these four pillars all join right along. Let’s talk about that now. Obviously you can use the Batmobile to drive through the city, although there are different points where some of the three different islands that make up Gotham may be blocked off temporally. Using the Batmobile to drive through the city is awesome and it works wonders to get from point A to point B. There are also puzzles using the “Tank” version of the Batmobile. With a quick tap and hold of a button, the Batmobile switches from a more classic style to looking similar to the version used in the Nolan movies. In Tank mode the Batmobile can shoot missiles, cannon shots, machine guns, and more. And for the sake of puzzles it can use a power wrench that can attack onto things and break them down or possibly power up a generator. Batman doesn’t kill. So while driving around in the Batmobile he can only ram into other vehicles or shoot a disrupter shot that shuts off the power to the vehicles with multiple hits. While in Tank mode Batman shoots rubber bullets, incapacitated thugs and militia but obviously not killing them. The real explosive power comes when Batman goes against drones. There are unmanned drones flying through the air and moving about the streets, as well as drones that play big roles in the story. At these moments, Batman uses the tank mode to completely obliterate the drones. There’s also stealth type gameplay that uses the tank mode. There is a specific type of drone that is extremely powerful and has a weak spot on the back, so you have to stealthily sneak up behind it. To be honest, for puzzles and traversal, the Batmobile feels right at home at it’s a lot of fun. But the Tank gameplay just doesn’t quite feel Batmany enough and although it provides some definite fun, it isn’t quite on the same level as the other gameplay mechanics.

Batman's Batmobile in Tank Mode does ferocious damage to the unmanned drones that lurk the city streets. It offers great gameplay verity(Rocksteady's MO) But it doesn't quite feel "Batmany" enough compared to the rest of the game

Batman’s Batmobile in Tank Mode does ferocious damage to the unmanned drones that lurk Gotham’s streets. It offers great gameplay verity (Rocksteady’s MO). But it doesn’t quite feel “Batmany” enough compared to the rest of the game’s perfect gameplay

As far as the standard Batman gameplay, it’s as smooth, precise, and instinctive as ever; and maybe even better than ever. The puzzles are fun, interesting, and totally fit right at home for something “The World’s Greatest Detective” would need to solve. The combat is still my favorite in gaming. Batman attacks, counter attacks, uses gadgets, jumps over enemies, and does amazing takedowns in beautiful splendor. It’s all incredibly fluid and becomes second nature in no time. There are many different types of enemies. Some have riot shields, some are big brutes that are twice the size of the average brawler, some fight with electrical taser-like sticks, some are medics that can revive his allies, some use knifes, swords, bates, and more. Every single one of these guys can be taken down in different ways, but also they are immune to certain attacks as well. A brute for example will just block a normal punch, but stun him first with a swing of the cape and he’ll be open for a barrage of punches. Overall the fighting system can be slightly overwhelming at first, but once I got used to it back in Arkham Asylum, it quickly became my favorite combat in gaming. There are new enemies, new takedowns, new gadgets, etc in Arkham Knight and it all feels perfect.

As well as combat, the predator mode is back and better than ever. For me, predator mode is the definition of Batman, it’s the best “OMG I AM BATMAN” feeling I can possibly have. In predator moments of the game, the enemies are armed with guns, gadgets, and gear and their one and only task is to hunt down Batman and kill him. Of course, Batman is the one that ends up doing the hunting. The stealth in this predator gameplay is some of the best in all of gaming in my eyes. Batman can hide inside grates, up on high ledges, behind walls, and wherever else he desires. One by one Batman will take down each enemy, and the bad guys get more and more terrified with each fallen comrade. There are so many ways to take down enemies in predator mode. Batman can sneak behind an enemy and choke him out. He can use the batclaw to grab someone and pull him off a ledge. He can drop down from a vantage point, pick up the enemy, and hang him upside down from his feet. All the great takedowns return from previous games, but there are plenty of new additions as well. For example there are now environmental takedowns that use surrounding equipment to do extra damage to takedown an enemy quickly. One of the main things that seemed emphasized in this game is using the enemies gear against them. There are many different enemy types to watch out for that make things quite difficult for Batman. There’s an enemy that controls a flying drone that patrols the air directly above. There are medics who can resuscitate someone who Batman has already taken down. There are big brutes that carry mini guns and can’t be taken down by some of the more basic moves. There are enemies who have devices that block Batman’s detective mode (used to see through walls, analyze environmental objects, understand the enemies current weapons, gage enemies fear level, etc) and other enemies that will be able to track Batman when he does use detective mode. As overbearing as all that might be, one of Batman’s greatest strengths is using the enemies weapons against them. So nearly every single enemy type has a counter. That enemy using the drone, Batman can use his hacking tool to make the drone blind for 30 seconds. Or better yet, he can use that hack tool to take the codes from the enemy controlling it to reprogram it to shock the user instead. The disrupter weapon is astoundingly multi-purposeful. The enemy trying to track Batman when he uses detective mode will actually backfire and shock him instead of finding Batman. Or the enemy that is about to resuscitate someone, instead of that shocking him back awake, Batman can sabotage it to shock the medic to sleep. This list goes on and on. But Batman only gets a few shots with the disruptor, so use them wisely.

Batman in Predator Mode using his Detective ability to see through walls, gage the enemies' fear, and analaze the environment--soooo many beautiful options to take them down and they won't even know what hit 'em

Batman in predator mode using his detective ability to see through walls, gauge the enemies’ fear, and analyze the environment–soooooo many beautiful options to take them down and they won’t even know what hit ’em

Another huge addition to gameplay in general and most useful in predator mode is the Fear Takedown. Batman is known to bring fear into the hearts of his enemies. When he is lined up at the right place, maybe right above the enemy, hiding below, or right behind a corner, Batman can use the fear takedown method to instantly takedown multiple enemies. Basically, he pops out of nowhere to completely incapacitate someone in the blink of an eye. This happens in a very cool looking slow-motion way. When this happens just a couple feet away from another enemy, they get temporality stunned or start firing the gun recklessly aimlessly out of total fear. Batman can chain the fear takedown and sort of “bounce” from one enemy to another in seconds and take down a group of guys. At first Batman can do this to three enemies, but in time it can be upgraded to five. Setting up a scenario to take down three, four, five enemies in seconds in one fell swoop just feels so Batman, it’s perfect. Batman can make a wall explode, take down an enemy loudly, manipulate the bad guys to specific spots to set up a fear takedown of a sorry pathetic bunch. To “reload” the fear takedown again, Batman needs to successfully stealth takedown an enemy, this makes sure that the ability isn’t overpowered. Another way to make sure that all these new takedowns, and specifically the fear takedown, are fair and don’t make Batman too powerful is simple making the levels larger and adding more enemies. In the past there would be five, six, seven enemies on a predator section level. Now there can be as many sixteen. But with the added tools and options, it feels just as fair. Planning out what to do and when is what predator mode is all about. Building that strategy and it working to perfection is so satisfying. Batman just feels like Batman in these predator moments.

Fear Takedowns offer a game-changing twist to combat and especially predator moments. Rocksteady handles it to perfection and Fear Takedowns instantly become one of the coolest and most useful new additions

Fear Takedowns offer a game-changing twist to combat and especially predator moments. Rocksteady handles it to perfection and Fear Takedowns instantly become an extremely satisfying, cool, and super useful new addition

Traversal has a few new great additions as well. Batman needs to be able to move quicker in Gotham, as it’s three times as big as Arkham City. Batman has free roam to go anywhere with the limits of the game, and to do so he can use the Batmobile or fly/glide through the air. Using a grappling hook and launching into the skies is a great way to move about the city, see just how amazing the scale is, and see just how beautiful the world is.

As mentioned before, there is so much to do other than just the story in Arkham Knight. The most wanted missions took up a lot of my time, but I thoroughly enjoyed them. The Riddler challenges take up the most time, as they are hidden everywhere throughout Gotham. I enjoyed every single most wanted mission. Some of them are stronger than others, with the weakest ones being Batmobile focused. I just can’t help but want more and more, the Arkham games always take place in one night, I wish I could be Batman for years and just continue cleaning up Gotham from all the corrupt and crazy villains. As well solving riddles and completing the most wanted, there are also AR challenges. In previous games there was a challenge mode that could be played from the selection screen, instead of jumping into story mode. Now the AR challenges can be entered into from the selection screen AND they are in different spots in Gotham. This is a cool addition, because there were plenty of times I’d notice myself being right next to a challenge and thinking, hey what the heck, I’ll go for it. It feels like it’s a part of the world now, and that’s cool. However challenges do have some problems as well. First off, they didn’t used to be AR challenges. It makes more sense in a world building sense, that Batman can challenge himself with some crazy technology based on augmented reality to hone his skills, as opposed to before when he’d somehow be beating the same bad guys to a pulp over and over. So in a world building sense, it makes more sense. But it also ended up narrowing down the arenas or cool places to fight because now they are scattered throughout Gotham instead of being based on locations in various levels in the game. For example, in Arkham City there were challenge rooms in places that ended up getting blown to bits or are deep inside of labyrinths where whole sections of the story took place. Now, in Arkham Knight, that’s not an option. Since its all “AR” it’s always in easy to reach places in the city. In Arkham Knight there were multiple times that I did a predator mission and thought to myself, oh my gosh this area is awesome! I can’t wait to return to this spot in a challenge! But then I realized that it just won’t be the case, since that cool area isn’t just at the top of a building in Gotham somewhere, it’s instead buried deep inside a story sequence, that may be possible to return to, but there won’ t be AR challenges here. Another big thing that bothered me with challenges is that they totally reworked the combat versions. In previous games it was always round based, in some cool little arena Batman would take down three waves of enemies and the final score would build up to hopefully being one, two, or three stars. In this game the combat is all just one wave, one round, and I just don’t like the way it’s set up. Lastly there are just not enough AR challenges anymore. Honestly in the older games the challenges were some of my favorite parts. I would play them for hours and hours. In predator mode, to get three stars, the goal is to follow the instructions on specific takedowns. For example it might say, get a triple fear takedown, save the medic for last, and get an inverted takedown, do all three of these for three stars. Its loads of fun! But in Arkham Knight there are only four predator challenges and four combat challenges. FOUR OF EACH?!? There were over 50 in the previous games. Plus, they were all playable as Catwoman, Robin, and Nightwing in Arkham City, so that’s 200+ challenges. I honestly don’t know what they were thinking here. There are also now three different kinds of Batmobile AR challenges, so it almost makes me hate them because I feel like they took the place for the ones I enjoy more. To be fair, the Batmobile racing challenges are a lot of fun, especially the ones based on Riddler challenges. But I’m not as big of a fan of the tank and pursuit challenges. Overall I just really miss the huge amount of predator and combat challenges from the older games. This is huge replay value that is completely gone. Perhaps it will be DLC down the road? But will it ever add up to the amount in the previous games?

This Riddler race is a part of the AR challenges as well as being a track the Riddler built to attempt to finally outwit The World's Greatest Detective

This Riddler race is a part of the AR challenges as well as being a track the Riddler himself built in attempt to finally outwit The World’s Greatest Detective

The strange and often times not fun boss battles of the previous games are gone, and that’s a great thing. Each climax to every character arch, whether from the main story or most wanted missions, is fun and satisfying and doesn’t need “boss battles”. Instead, the times when Batman does go head to head against one of his arch nemeses, it feels like a natural battle. For example in Arkham City for some odd reason Two-Face took like 75 punches to take down. Now, after taking down his henchmen and avoiding his gunfire, it takes one quick takedown (I mean come on, Two-Face would be on the ground from one punch from the Dark Night…)

Let me just say this; Batman Arkham Knight is one of the best looking games I’ve ever seen. The detail, the colors, the rain, the lighting, the effects, the whole city of Gotham, it’s just all delicious eye candy. My only complaint when it comes to the visuals is the character design for some. Scarecrow, Batman, Arkham Knight, Joker, Robin, Oracle, Penguin, Two-Face, they are all homeruns. But some of the characters went through some major plastic surgery or something because they look drastically different from previous versions. Poison Ivy for example looks like a completely different character from the last game, and I’m not a fan of the design. They went for a more realistic look, I understand that, but I still don’t like it. The Riddler has always been one of my favorites, his design in the last game was perfect, I don’t like what he looks like in this version. Overall most of the slight changes were for the better, but some were just so drastic that it kinda threw me off. The voice acting and the writing is first-rate. The Joker is incredible, Mark Hamill as always, nails his role as the clown prince of crime. Kevin Conroy, as the Dark Night, is consistently marvelous. Every voice and every line sounds like it fits perfectly without the world of the game, within Gotham. The music in the game is wonderful. In predator mode is where it shines, as the music ramps up to great intensity with every additional take down. The music has sounds from the animated series, while still giving it its own unique feel. Meanwhile, for the first time in the series I also heard hints of the soundtrack from the Nolan films, and the mix of all three of these adds up to a beautifully Batmany soundtrack that my ears seriously love.

Batman: Arkham Knight's visuals are some of the best I've ever seen. Look at the color, detail, and art style. I don't know if Gotham has ever looked so good

Batman: Arkham Knight’s visuals are some of the best I’ve ever seen. Look at the color, detail, vastness, effects, and art style. I don’t know if Gotham has ever looked so beautiful

Rocksteady had a very difficult task in completing the Arkham series and Batman’s incredible story told through these games. But they’ve proven once again that they are one of the best developers out there. The main story, with all of the twists and turns and amazing character development is the best of the bunch and something that every Batman fan should enjoy. Scarecrow, the Arkham Knight, Joker, and of course Batman and his family each have perfect roles in the game. And again, the way Joker is handled is phenomenal. The story is definitely hard to swallow at times, the game is now rated M for a reason, with some events being a kick in the gut, but it’s bittersweet in the best ways and something I really loved. The varying gameplay is top notch; Rocksteady knows how to create a game that never gets boring. The game switches from puzzles to combat to tanks to predator without missing a beat. The tank stuff may be just a bit off-putting when compared to Batman being Batman, but it’s still certainly a lot of fun. The combat and predator modes are as amazing as ever. Meanwhile the city of Gotham is massive and traversing it and cleaning up the streets are so much fun. Batman’s tool set makes the game a true sandbox experience; allowing the player to tackle scenarios in any way they please. The Most Wanted side missions add hours and hours of fun to go along with the perfect length 10ish hour main story. The AR challenges are a bit of a letdown, since they are bare in comparison to the robustness from the preceding games. They are still extremely fun, I just want more. The game feel in Arkham Knight is special. The story, world building, music and sound, and visual art style combine for a game that really feels like an extraordinary place to be. It just feels so Batman, and that’s all a gamer like me wants. I want to thank Rocksteady for their footprint in the Batman universe. From the animated series, to comics, to the big screen, finding a place in the world of Batman isn’t easy. But somewhere Rocksteady created possibly my favorite way to experience the Dark Night. The Christopher Nolan films are some of my favorite. The animated series will always have a huge place in my heart as the definition of what Batman is to me. Experiencing Batman, playing as him, being him, in a wonderful world that pays homage to all those things I’ve grown to love and creating a series of games that matches my extremely high expectations for the caped crusader is something that truly blows me away. I want to be the night, to be vengeance, I want to be Batman! And thanks to Rocksteady and the Arkham series—I can and I am!

PROS:
1) Amazing engrossing story that wraps up the Arkham series wonderfully
2) Gameplay still some of the best in the industry
3) Being Batman
4) Joker Joker Joker
5) Stunningly beautiful
6) So much to do
7) Nearly unprecedented fan-fare
CONS:
1) AR challenges not handled as well as in the past
2) Tank gameplay is fun, but a bit out of place
9.7
Phenomenal

 

The Arkham series has always been on top of the industry with awesome collectibles and fan-fare--this sweet Joker model is just one small example

The Arkham series has always been on top of the industry with awesome collectibles and fan-fare–this sweet Joker model is just one small example

(I reviewed the game on the Xbox One. My version played near flawlessly, with just a few tiny hiccups hear and there. I’m aware of the PC version and it’s problems, I do feel bad for the PC crowd. I didn’t allow that to effect my review in any way, because my version, and anyone playing the Xbox One or PS4 version deserves a 9.7 in my eyes. And the PC version deserves the same score in my opinion once the game is fully patched, as long as the game is then major glitch free and has all the features of the console version.)

Review: Roving Rogue

Roving Rogue
Roving rogue
Cost
$7.99
Format
Digital
Size
500 MB
Available On
Wii U [Reviewed]
Release Date
July 2nd, 2015
Developer
Padaone Games
Publisher
Padaone Games
Modes
Single Player and Multi Player

Roving Rogue is a 2D platformer designed to look and play like games from the golden-age of gaming. Developer Padaone Games endeavors to create a game with 42 frantic levels, a story interestingly told backwards, and simple yet deep mechanics. There’s tons of attempted humor, a classic art style, and a fascinating platforming tool. With indie games in a renaissance and kickstarted games taking over, classic throwback 8-bit and 16-bit games are suddenly flooding the market. Standing out as a truly special game is difficult. For every Shovel Knight, one of the best games of the last decade, there are hundreds of shovelware piles of crap that are reminiscent of why the video game industry crashed back in 1983. Sadly for Padaone Games, Roving Rogue definitely falls closer to the shovelware category.

Roving Rogue’s story is funny and interesting for about 5 seconds. In the very first moment of the game, you will kill the final boss. From then on the game is actually played backwards; since the main character has lost his memory and needs to recount what actually happened. While there could have been so many amazing gameplay elements revolved around playing a story backwards, the game doesn’t take advantage of this. Levels still play the same way, enemies attack and the goal is to get to the finish line of the level. If the game didn’t tell me that I was starting in world 6 and the story didn’t tell me everything is backwards, I would have had no idea. The game also starts each level with text from different characters in the game. In this it seems Padaone wanted to build lore and add humor. Every single quote ends in a hashtag joke, but it gets old very quickly and with almost every #joke it is extremely obvious that they are #tryingtohard.

There are two huge problems with the gameplay of Roving Rogue. One is that the gameplay is extremely repetitive. In the game’s 42 levels it really doesn’t introduce anything knew. The second problem is that that aforementioned repetitive gameplay is borderline broken and just plain boring. It would be one thing if the game was repetitive but still fun. For example Temple Run was a huge success, Guitar Hero is another example. Those games are pretty darn repetitive, but it’s still full of a lot of enjoyment. Roving Rogue just isn’t fun. As I already mentioned, the gameplay is tedious and monotonous. There are new enemies and new levels, but they don’t add anything to the game. The enemies are not a threat at all; they slightly bump the player backwards a bit. Some have swords, some have arrows, some can levitate, but all of them are just minor annoyances in the way. In every level there is always an environmental hazard forcing the player to run to the exit. There’s lava, rocks, etc; the goal is always to get to the exit without letting those things catch up. There are also three collectables in each level. Actually managing to pick up those collectables is a real challenge, and sometimes they are positioned in places that are almost impossible. Sadly the reason they are so hard to get is not because of bad level design, although that is most certainly the case as well, it’s more because of bad and nearly broken platforming.

This broken platforming all has to do with the character’s special ability. He is a ninja of sorts, he can teleport; vanish and reappear to jump across pitfalls, make higher jumps, and dash throw objects. To pull this off I just had to press and hold the button, move the analog in one of eight different directions (North, Northeast, East, South East, and so on), and let go to disappear in a pink cloud of smoke and reappear at the requested destination. One major problem…. It just doesn’t work. Countless times I would attempt to point the teleport jump northeast, only to have the arrow move in a blink of an eye to the east instead, and I’d fall to my death. So many times I would CLEARLY set up to land perfectly on a platform, only to have my character mysteriously land multiple platforms below and completely miss the landing spot I was shooting for. The irritation and frustration kicked in very quickly. Everything revolves around these ninja teleports and it truly felt like half the time I attempted them the game would screw up and I’d land in a pit of lava. The gameplay just doesn’t need finished. The jumping is floaty and unnatural. The enemies are pointless. The level design feels like it is poorly procedurally generated as opposed to being put together brick by brick with purpose.

The graphics in Roving Rogue are awfully basic and lifeless. There are so many old 8-bit and 16-bit style games from the past that are gorgeous. There are also numerous brand new 8-bit and 16-bit games designed in this era, made to look like they are from the 80‘s and 90’s, that look stunning. Roving Rouge just looks dull. The color palette seems limited. The game is unimaginative and just kinda ugly. The sprites design, both enemies and playable characters, aren’t special in any way. The music is atrocious. It’s repetitive and quite painful to the ears. It’d probably be best to play the game on mute, if you choose to play it at all.

There is multiplayer in Roving Rogue, it’s simple but it could add some fun to the game. The only option in multiplayer is just to add another player, up to four, to the fold in the normal campaign. Rushing to the exit however, when the jumping and controls are already so busted, only makes beating the levels more obnoxiously difficult; not because of good game design, but because of lousy controls.

In a platformer, gameplay is everything. First and foremost a platformer needs to have pinpoint responsive controls; Roving Rogue doesn’t have this at all. A platformer needs to continue to bring new elements of fun to the table and avoid being repetitive, unless the core game is loads and load of fun (although being a bunch of fun AND not being repetitive is obviously the best of both worlds); Roving Rogue fails in this department. And obviously, above all else, the second to second gameplay in a platformer needs to be fun; Roving Rogue is just not fun.

PROS:
1) Interesting story idea

CONS:
1) Backwards story not fleshed out
2) Repetitive
3) Teleporting is broken
4) Subpar art style and music

3
Lousy

 

Review: Adventures of Pip

Adventures of Pip
adventures_of_pip_v3_by_harrybana-d8y45f8
Cost
$14.99
Format
Digital
Size
555 MB
Available On
Wii U [Reviewed]
Release Date
June 4th, 2015
Developer
TIC TOC Game
Publisher
TIC TOC Games
Modes
Single Player

Adventures of Pip is a 2D side-scrolling platformer from Tic Toc games, an independent developer. The game was a Kickstarter project; it was backed by 2,578 people and racked in $65,974. It’s a throwback and takes gameplay elements from classic 8 and 16-bit games. In Pixel Kingdome, each character is made up of pixels. The less pixels you have, the less you are worth. Some characters have faces that have no features at all, like from an old 8-bit Nintendo game. Meanwhile the rich and mighty have 16-bit faces with eyes, mouths, etc. However, everyone is still happy, the land is prosperous and they love their King and Queen. However, a witch named Queen DeRezzia has kidnapped Princess Adeline, who possesses amazing powers. Derezzia uses the princesses’ powers to create havoc and reign supreme over the land. It’s up to Pip, a lowly little pixel, to save the day.

Pip has very unique powers, he can harness the bitsteam. In the first level of the game you happen across an old ghostly knight who awakens Pip’s skills. When Pip jumps on a specific type of enemy, ones created by DeRezzia herself, he can evolve into an 8-bit version of himself. This version can run faster, attack enemies with punches, and most importantly wall jump! However, single pixel version of Pip is far from useless. He can jump higher off of mushroom springs and float slower, thus jump further, across platforms and into secrets. He’s also the shortest version, which means sneaking into small crevasses for goodies or passageways. Once the third world starts, Pip can evolve again into a 16-bit version of himself. This version can’t wall jump or even jump of off the mushroom springs, he’s too big and bulky. Nevertheless he can push heavy boulders and does wield a sword, which has the ability slice through rocks and is great at killing bad dudes.

To evolve from a single pixel to 8-bit and then 16-bit, Pip must kill a glowing blue enemy who has bitstream flowing through it. Pip instantly evolves once he kills one of them. To “devolve” backwards, for the sake of a platforming jump of a secret for example, you can simply hold the button down and Pip will go back to his lesser pixely form. Also when he does “devolve” a little explosion comes out of Pip; killing very nearby enemies and destroying pink colored blocks that are often in the way of his progression. The levels are designed to take advantage of each of Pip’s form. I was constantly evolving and devolving and it’s a lot of fun. For example there could be a line of pink blocks in the way of a secret passage. So I would need to simply devolve from 8-bit form and the explosion would blow up those pink blocks. Then after squeezing through the tiny tunnel in single pixel form, there could be few bad guys to kill, one of which was connected to the bitstream, which allows me to evolve back into 8-bit form. Now there could be a wall jumping section to get up to a higher spot, where one more bitsream enemy is waiting, once I kill him and go into 16-bit form, I could use the sword to destroy the rocks in my way and get the treasure chest behind it. All of the switching pack and forth feels very natural and not at all overwhelming; the clear differences between each pixilated form of Pip allows for fun gameplay without confusion.

Along with each of Pip’s forms being used for level progression and secrets, the evolution gameplay is also used heavily in platforming, and this is awesome. While controlling Pip I needed to analyze the situation and then quickly change back and forth on the fly to land tricky but enjoyable jump sequences. As the levels go on, the platforming gets more and more challenging, but never too frustrating or overly difficult. A perfect simple example of pulling off all the switches in one event happens in the very first level you unlock Pip’s 16-bit form. To jump high enough, I needed to first be in single bit form and jump off of a mushroom spring. Once launched in the air, I could land on top of a floating bitstream enemy, which evolved me into 8-bit form. Instantly after bouncing off of that enemy I needed to hug the wall and wall jump right off of it to jump far enough to land on the next floating bitstream enemy. Once I landed and bounced off of that bitstream enemy, I changed into 16 bit form and had to immediately slice away a rock wall that was blocking the platform to get to the next area. As soon as I performed all of this for the first time, I realized the special style of gameplay in Adventures of Pip. It’s unique and seriously cool. I wish the game had more of these brilliant platforming jumps, if the entire game was that alone, I’d be happy. The quick switch puzzley type platforming is what sets the game apart from the average throwback platformer.

Developer Tic Toc also made some smart moves when it comes to the design. One of those smart choices was how they handled enemy respawns. If you kill a normal enemy, he dies and doesn’t return, unless you leave the ”screen” and come back into that room. You won’t need to do that often, so not allowing the enemies to respawn instantly makes sense, while still giving the option to bring them back once you leave the screen and return makes sense too. Conversely, bitstream enemies DO respawn. In just a few seconds after killing one, the bitsream enemy will come back to life, almost like a dry bones from Mario. Why is this so important? It allows the player to take chances and test out little theories when it comes to the evolving and devolving puzzle type moments. Let’s say I had to get to the top of the platform, and to do so I needed to evolve Pip a few times in very specific ways. Well, I can just go for it and play while having epiphanies on the run without the fear of totally screwing it up. Because it I did mess up, those bitstream baddies will just reappear and I can have another go. But if they didn’t and I killed the bitsteam enemies without making it to the top of the platform, then what would I do? I’d have to kill myself or run backwards to “reset” the screen. The frustration of having to do that would be a major turnoff. Not only that, it would have changed the way I played. Instead of letting the game feel free and natural, and allowing for minor mistakes, I’d be forced to play the game slow and get seriously annoyed every time I missed a jump. How much would Portal have sucked if the blocks you had to place never respawned or if you had to get a new gun every time you took a couple shots? A lot! It might seem like a simple thing to do, but it could have been easily missed. And the fact that Tic Toc made normal enemies NOT respawn while bitsream enemies DO tells me that they thought hard, tested the game, and developed the game correctly in a pivotal moment.

Tic Toc also made the game a lot of fun to explore. Each level is filled with secrets. Walls you can go through, tough platforming high spots that utilize the different Pip’s jumps, and hidden places that can be opened up with the each pixilated form are everywhere in the game. Some of the secrets have chests with money; other secrets have civilians to save. Every level has three civilians that need saving, and finding all of them is the perfect mix of challenging without being daunting. And the gameplay is just fun enough that I always wanted to see what walls were hiding what and which leaps of faith could take me where. There is also a hub world, the town, that gets more and more filled the more civilians you save; I thought this was a really cool extra touch. The town also has shops, which can only be unlocked once you save the shopkeeper civilian of that specific shop in the levels. One shop may specialize in potions or heart pieces. Another shop could give you special armor to allow for less health to be lossed when hit by a bad guy. Some of these things are extremely over priced, there are single use items that show you if the screen has hidden stuff, but for the cost it’s not worth it. Meanwhile saving up for another heart piece or more armor is totally worth it. It just sucks that it takes so long to save up that money. The average level will give you 300-500 pixels, the games currency. But the shop items themselves, at least the ones worth buying, cost 3k-5k pixels. With 5 world and 8 levels in each, you can only really buy a handful of those good items on your first playthrough.

Speaking of the worlds and levels, this is an area that could have used a bit more work. The lava and castle type levels later in the game look really cool. But the first few worlds are lacking. The first world is a forest, the second is a swamp. And they are far too similar. Each level in each world usually didn’t have enough diversity either, every level looks the same. It would have helped, for example, if say the forest level had a level that looked like it followed a river, another level that seemed to be deep inside a massive tree, or other cool places that totally would fit in a forest world. As opposed to every level in the forest world kind of just looking like the same green forest with minor changes.

The graphics overall don’t impress. Of course it’s a classic 8/16-bit game. But I’ve seen many of those that totally blow me away. The enemy design, the world and levels visual design all seem flat. There aren’t too many wow moments to the eyes. There’s nothing visually distracting either, it’s just maybe too simple. One thing about the graphics that is really cool is the maintained art-style throughout the different pixelated characters. It’s interesting that an 8-bit character with little detail can still look unique and can fit into the world right along side a fully detailed 16-bit character. The music also seems out of place. At times it sounds really awesome, but more fitting for a classic Japanese rpg or that kind of game. It doesn’t really fit with the visual style or gameplay. Overall the music gets a bit monotonous.

The boss battles at the end of the eighth level in every world are underwhelming. They seem less about skill and fun flowing gameplay and more about trial by error. They also just aren’t enjoyable to fight. Instead of creating bosses where the goal was to jump on its head three times typical Mario style, why not have running bosses or collapsing levels where Pip needs to evolve and devolve fast through the levels and make it to the exit alive. That would fit the gameplay much better in my opinion.

Adventures of Pip is a fun game. The second to second gameplay is distinctive and exciting. My favorite moments were when I was forced to use all of Pip’s different pixel versions in one awesome platforming sequence. I honestly wish there were many more of these. The bosses could be dropped from the game and it would probably benefit, although a new climax would be needed instead. The text between the characters is filled with chuckles, as the humor often revolves around making fun of Pip’s single pixel form or pixel related puns. The graphics and music are fine, but if the game had a more distinctive and beautiful art style it would have propelled Pip to newer heights for sure. Secrets are plentiful, but buying stuff in the stores just costs too much. Overall evolving and devolving to make jumps, find secrets, and eventually save the princess and Pixel Land is a whole lot of fun; Tic Toc should be proud.

PROS:
1) Unique new evolve/devolve gameplay
2) Packed with secrets
3) Good ol’ fun

CONS:
1) Weak boss fights
2) Bland graphics

7.5
Good

 

Review: LEGO Jurassic World

LEGO Jurassic World
box_legojurassicworld_w160
Cost
$59.99
Format
Digital and Retail
Size
12.58 GB
Available On
Xbox ONE [Reviewed], 360, PS4, PS3
Release Date
6/12/15
Developer
Traveller’s Tales
Publisher
Warner Bros. Interactive
Modes
Single Player and Local Co-op

LEGO Jurassic World is the latest LEGO game from Traveller’s Tales and if you’ve played ANY LEGO GAME EVER, then you are as prepared for LEGO Jurassic World as Bounty Paper Towels are prepared for a small liquid spill and that’s pretty damn prepared. People complain that COD or Battlefield make a game every single year but I think one of the first things Goldman Sachs’ uses as a indication that the global economy is about to implode is if there are not at least 3 LEGO games released in a year and they’ve been coming out that way since the start of time. I believe I remember a section in the Bible where Jesus and Moses are playing LEGO: BC and getting mad because they are trying to destroy 3 Gold Cow Idols for a Red Brick but haven’t unlocked Noah yet so they don’t have the correct ability.

All LEGO games have the exact same 2 things going for them. The first is the start of the game’s name is LEGO and the second is the last part of the game’s name is some other insanely popular franchise with about a million raving fan-boys. And it’s a formula that works so god-bless their cookie cutter hearts and I hope they keep making them for a million more years.

That’s not to say that nothing ever changes in LEGO games. It’s more like they are not especially aggressive at adding new features. Traveller’s Tales sits down to start working on the next installment and Bob says, “How about we add these 2 things.” and everyone at the table applauds him and they get up to move on with development. Well George thinks he has 2 more things that would make it great also but too late George, someone already said 2 things and we don’t want to look like some kind of crazy dev that does more than 2 new things a game do we? The answer is no, no we do not.

A LEGO game isn't complete without a ton of random abilities!

A LEGO game isn’t complete without a ton of random abilities!

Of the two things they actually changed for LEGO Jurassic World the biggest and most welcome for me is that in the character select screen it clearly and precisely notes each and every character’s abilities. No more trying to remember who can break fuchsia colored bricks vs light-fuchsia colored bricks or some other nonsense. Another bonus is if the ability you need is sitting right there as character two, they give you a quite large hit Y to switch to him and try again. If no one in your party can do it they give you a headshot pic so you can try to figure out how to acquire them and come back later.

But there are also the same types of glitches that have never been fixed or even acknowledged. I can’t get through a LEGO game, and Jurassic World was no exception, without several characters getting permanently stuck in something. This always leaves you with only one option. To quit the entire level and try to start again. How hard would it be to code a reset position option in the menu? It would help my blood pressure immensely.

The main story consists of 20 levels covering all 4 movies. The levels follow the movies in pretty accurate detail expect with a more comedy minded outcome to some of the more tense movie situations. The cutscenes in LEGO Jurassic World are all played out with the actual audio tracks from the movies and 90% of the time they sound crisp and clean. There were a few lines though that sound like they were pulled from a VHS copy that had been stored in garbage dumpster out behind a Long John Silvers.

There are the now typical 250 Gold Bricks to acquire. Most of these are pretty straight forward and I was happy to see them move away from the insane number of fetch quests that made LEGO Lord of Rings so tedious. There are Workers in Peril and humorous photos to take. Races to be won. Sick Dinosaurs to heal. This isn’t just get the Gold Bricks to get all the Gold bricks. There are actual fun activities to do. All of these are short puzzles located in the same area and a new in-game map system shows the general locations of everything you need to accomplish. When it works. Again this is a LEGO game, glitches are to be expected. Some Gold Bricks simply didn’t make the cut for the map and hunting down your last few through the games many many many locations can become a chore. The new map system also allows for fast travel not only between story missions but hub locations which is a much appreciated new feature.

Oh, and yeah, you get to the be the Dinosaurs. During the story missions you’ll take control to win battles and bust open new areas and in the hub / free roam areas they are selectable just like characters for the smaller dino and they have large strategically placed dino pads to bring in large dinos like the T. rex. So if you want to run amok with a Velociraptor then go for it! Storm around and trash things as a T. rex? Yep you can do that too.

Dinosaurs! You can play as LEGO Dinosaurs!

Dinosaurs! You can play as LEGO Dinosaurs!

Even though at it’s core this is the same LEGO game that has been made for the last 20 years, the abilities and story are always unique to the franchise they are covering. Traveller’s Tales has a knack for taking material that is decidedly non-kid friendly and making it true to the original while making it accessible and enjoyable to the masses. I’d love to see what they would do with a LEGO Scarface. If you like LEGO, or you like Jurassic World, or you just like fun family friendly adventure games then you should absolutely give LEGO Jurassic World a play.

PROS:
1) Strong story
2) Easily accessible and always fun

CONS:
1) Same glitches as previous LEGO games

8.1
Excellent