Something’s Fishy About ‘Atomic Heart’

Written by: Nick Farinola // Published by: Joe Ahart // Photo Credit: Mundfish, ResetEra

 

Video games are a business. Developers have both sales estimations, goals and requirements. A final, triple-A product could very well release to overwhelming critical praise, only to fall victim to poor sales across the board. Titanfall 2 is an excellent example. Respawn’s highly regarded 2016 sequel was a critical success, but fell well below sales expectations. There are many factors that play into this unfortunate result, however it was the release date that inevitably paved the way to poor sales. Publisher Electronic Arts decided that it would be a great idea to release Titanfall 2 in late October, dead center between EA’s other FPS titan (no relation) Battlefield 1 and Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty Infinite Warfare, a series notorious for dominating sales and topping the charts months after its release. At its core, Titanfall 2 redefines first-person multiplayer shooters by injecting an innovative, fast-paced parkour movement system mixed with futuristic mech warfare. Gameplay and design-wise, Titanfall 2 was made with love, and Respawn nearly addressed all issues from the first game for their sequel. They even added in an expertly designed six to eight-hour single-player campaign anchored by an emotional narrative that IGN’s Ryan McCaffrey claims to be one of the best single-player campaigns in a first-person shooter (IGN Podcast Unlocked ep. 429). Unlike Respawn, other developers utilize ‘sketchier’ tactics. 

Some of the imagery on display is unnerving [Credit: Mundfish]

Developed by a small Russian studio of less than twenty employees by the name of Mundfish, Atomic Heart is an upcoming Bioshock-esque action, adventure RPG releasing on Playstation 4 and PC in early 2020…maybe. Atomic Heart’s most recent gameplay teaser that was released in early February 2020 continued the trend of leaving questions unanswered. The supposed early 2020 release date no longer seems viable with the lack of any kind of update or release window from neither the teaser nor the official website. This is a huge red flag that strongly indicates a troubled development cycle. So, I did some research, and what I found is rather worrisome. There’s plenty of room for doubt, but Mundfish has openly denied the claims I am about to reveal. According to a detailed report from a game development related telegram in Russian that’s been translated on gaming forum ResetEra, Atomic Heart could be a huge scam.  

 

Quotations pulled from an article by Rishi Alwani from Gadgets360.com: 

 

• “Last gameplay is real but it’s heavily directed and very linear. First trailer is mostly fake with gameplay bits rendered on engine.
• Seems like the game may have an episodic release (one episode is approximately five hours) but it isn’t mentioned anywhere else.
• CEO doesn’t have any knowledge about the game’s development.
• Everything that people like about the game (art, design, concept) is made by one person – Artyom Galeev, who has been nurturing the concept of the game for many years.
• No actual game design. Devs don’t know what they want to make. Someone liked finishers from Doom and they implemented something similar. Ideas shift from Doom and Prey to even Dark Souls.
• Major layoffs and there are not many experienced developers with C++ and UE4 in Russia, a lot of the work is outsourced.
• Development was rebooted five months ago and now it looks even worse than it did before, huge gameplay downgrade.
• The whole deal with Soviet Luna Park VR sounds like a cash grab with people who bought it left behind.
• Pre-orders are already open and it seems like it’s the only thing about this game that really does work.”

 

A game is only as good as the people creating it. Other sources from Reddit claim that financial director Evgeina Sedova has a modeling background and also owns a modeling agency without any prior knowledge or experience within the gaming industry. Mundfish markets Atomic Heart in a way to emphasize its graphical prowess without focusing much attention on gameplay mechanics or narrative. It’s the last point that really hits home. On the official website for Atomic Heart, pre orders are active without any sort of promising release window. There are currently three pre order editions: Digital Download Edition priced at $40 (with a “30% less than retail discount”), the Founder’s Edition from $50, and the Atomic Founder Edition from $90 that includes in-game cosmetics and “your photo and name placed on the wall at the safe zone. All players will see that you support Atomic Heart from the start.” Interesting. It all sounds very tempting, especially to a sucker like me, but it all seems so…fishy. 

 

Take all of this with a grain of salt as Mundfish actively denies all claims. Then again, if I was in their position and these claims threatened my product, I’d most likely deny everything and doubt their veracity. I want to be optimistic for this project, but there just isn’t enough information and communication from the developers for me to ignore the development hell rumors. What are your thoughts?

Atomic Heart is developed by Mundfish and will release NEVER. 

The Horror! The Horror! – Metro, Bioshock and Their Incredible Impact

Written by: Nick Farinola // Published by: Joe Ahart

 

Previously on Loochie’s Backtrack, we explored just what made Gears of War: Judgement such an awesome entry in the franchise. The short answer was that developer People Can Fly successfully crafted a fast-paced, wholly entertaining Gears prequel story that checked all the right boxes of a great Gears of War game. 

 

         For anyone that isn’t living under a rock, the looming threat of the Wuhan Coronavirus continues to make headlines with the worldwide death toll exponentially increasing. This virus is playing out similarly to that Matt Damon epidemic movie Contagion (2011), ya know, the one where the bats carried this deadly virus. In recent reports, with everything but scientific confirmation, it seems the virus has sprung from bats. Coincidence? I think not! 

 

         With the overwhelming threat of the zombie apocalypse, I wanted to look back at two of my favorite horror-centric first-person shooters that both received a fresh coat of paint with current-gen remaster packages. Those franchises are Bioshock and Metro. Oddly enough, Playstation had just announced their line-up for PS-Plus free games of the month, which just so happens to include Bioshock: The Collection. For those of you unaware of this 2016 remastered collection, it includes all three Bioshock games (Bioshock, Bioshock 2, and Bioshock Infinite). 

Rapture is both beautiful and eerily haunting [Credit: 2K Games]

 

         Without going any further, I would be committing an injustice if I did not commend the System Shock series. These two games, more specifically System Shock 2, heavily inspired the two games I will be discussing further. If you haven’t had the chance to play System Shock, I implore you to do so. For those of you that find them to be a bit dated, you’re in luck! Developer Night Dive Studios has fully Kickstarted a remaster of the first game, available for pre-order here. 

 

         Without further ado, I’m Loochie and THIS is “Loochie’s Backtrack!” 

 

         Okay, how the hell do I even introduce Bioshock? It’s one of the most shocking, violent, and extraordinary games to have ever been released. Its lore is, at base level, simplistic. But if you’re a gamer who likes to explore every nook and cranny, searching for that last diary entry, then you will be fully rewarded with one of gaming’s most profound and haunting universes ever created. The final twist delivers one of the most mind-blowing “Oh, shit!” moments without it seeming forced or confusing in respect to the established lore. 

 

         The most compelling aspect of Bioshock, aside from its narrative, is the atmosphere. Your adventure takes place in Rapture – well, it actually starts on a doomed flight over the mid-Atlantic. You are Jack, the sole survivor of this crash. The year is 1960, and you seemingly stumble upon the underwater, dystopian city of Rapture…one year or so after riots tore the place limb from limb. Want to know more about this fictional city? Check out the wiki page, or even read the book “Bioshock: Rapture” by John Shirley to understand how it came to be and how it came to fall. Bioshock is a great example of the almost perfect culmination of narrative, gameplay, atmosphere and sound. Rapture was a nightmare to explore, but I never wanted to leave – and that’s the best compliment I could give to the game. 

Bioshock Infinite’s Columbia, similar to Rapture, is both beautiful and deceptive [Credit: Irrational Games] 

 

         I’m the type of gamer who completely appreciates fantastic art direction. I could easily condone mediocre gameplay if the world I’m placed into forces me to believe in its existence. Rapture feels alive, yet ironically, also feels dreadfully void. The player could imagine the beauty that once was, but what they’re seeing is destruction and death. Something terrible happened here, but what makes it worse is the fact that we’re hundreds of miles deep in the ocean. It’s claustrophobic and uncomfortably tense. You could experience Jack’s story all while uncovering the mystery of Rapture through hidden video logs spread throughout the city. Think of them as pieces of personal narratives that reveal a greater puzzle. Believe me, take the time to listen to each and every one. 

 

         What separates the Bioshock series from other first-person shooters are the plasmids (Bioshock and Bioshock 2) and vigors (Bioshock Infinite). These ingestible, supernatural powers give you the ability to electrocute and set aflame (to name a few) your enemies. This adds a strategic element to the gameplay loop. See a group of slicers looting a dead corpse in a puddle? Why not electrocute the water, killing everyone immediately? If you light one of them on fire, the AI is programmed to actually run to the nearest source of water. Bioshock Infinite further expands on the series’ unique gameplay by implicating a hook-and-ride system that could be utilized both offensively and defensively, as well as a time loop mechanic through Elizabeth. It quickens the pace of combat to exhilarating heights. Interestingly enough, a YouTube video details an alpha version of Bioshock Infinite, revealing a game that was far different from the already innovative one that was released. I can’t begin to fathom the difficulty that comes with creating a video game, but what was shown off in that video versus the final product is pretty staggering. 

 

         The Bioshock series greatly impacted the industry and further blurred the line between cinema and video games. With the recent formation of Cloud Chamber (a division of 2K Games), a new Bioshock could, and most likely is on the way!

[Credit: Blind Squirrel Games/2K Games]

         

The Metro series is one that hasn’t seen as much publicity as Bioshock but has recently received much-deserved praise with the release of its third installment Exodus. Keep in mind that atmosphere is the most important aspect of a successful video game. The year is 2033, twenty years after nuclear war had wiped out most of Earth’s population, reducing the few remaining to survive among the mutated rats in the metro system. Similar to current politics, these people are divided, some known as the Reds, others as the Hansas, and the rest as a reborn Neo-Nazi division coined “The Fourth Reich.” The surface is a dangerous, inhospitable wasteland with enough radiation to boil water. Humanity is hanging by a thread…and then came the Dark Ones. These extraterrestrial beings threaten the already dwindled human population, and it is up to Artyom to put an end to them. Without crossing the much-maligned spoiler territory, let’s just say the Dark Ones had something else in mind.

 

Similar to Bioshock, narrative and atmosphere are priority. If you’re looking for a run-and-gun first-person shooter, this is not your destination, my friend. The Metro series, depending on your choice of difficulty, forces you to think before attacking. Resources are limited – bullets are the main form of currency for crying out loud. Most of the time, you are dropped in a rather large environment riddled with enemy AI with only one exit point. You are encouraged to take the stealth route, but by all means, play as you want. It’s incredibly rewarding to stealth your way through an area, clearing the guards of their resources and killing the ones that stand in your way with a perfectly timed knife to the throat. Other times, the game throws you in scenarios where brute force is a necessity for survival. Mutants are usually handled with a shotgun blast to the face. The library in Metro 2033…I’ll leave it at that.

 [Credit: 4A Games]

Creature design is masterful. Mutants are varied and equally disgusting. One of my favorite creatures in all of video games and movies is the spider-scorpion hybrid. Near the beginning of the sequel Metro: Last Light, Artyom and his new acquaintance Pavel traverse a hive in an attempt to escape the Fourth Reich. This gives way to one of the most tense and frightening interactive experiences ever. Spider webs and Ridley Scott Alien-esque egg pods litter the floors and walls. Artyom must reach a generator to unlock a door leading to the surface. Sounds of arachnid footsteps break the silence, and your only defense is a flashlight and a perfectly timed knife strike to the stomach. These six-legged insectoids sneak up on you, but quickly burn and screech when placed in light. With no hole to escape into, these creatures flip over as the light scorches their protective shell, revealing a soft and vulnerable abdomen. This is the exact moment to strike. 

 

Weapons are the standard light and heavy arsenal seen in other first-person shooters, but it has its own post-apocalyptic flare. If you have enough bullets to spend, you could buy muzzle breakers, silencers and scope attachments. Be warned though, you’re going to need to regularly charge your manual flashlight and some of your weapons with an attachable battery. Oh, and when you’re on the surface, make sure you have a mask and a few oxygen filters. Try not to get hit either…your mask could get cracked. Exodus actually introduced this neat mechanic that allows you to tape the cracked area of the mask.

 

It’s moments like these where the player feels extremely uncomfortable that make Metro such a phenomenal and unforgettable piece of horror entertainment. You even have the choice to play the game completely in Russian with English subtitles, further immersing the player in the world. It’s an unpredictable and violent landscape; it’s up to you to decide how to handle it. Best piece of advice – conserve and observe. 

 Metro Redux [Credit: 4A Games/THQ Deep Silver]

 

If you were to get anything out of these Backtracks, I implore you to play these games if you have the spine for it. They fluently mix action and horror elements into several refined and impressive experiences. Not to mention you could pick up the remastered/redux versions for less than modern retail prices. 

 

Bioshock: The Collection is available for PS-Plus subscribers this February!

 

Play Metro Redux (Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light) AND Metro Exodus on Xbox Game Pass now!

Gears of War: Judgement – Loochie’s Backtrack

Written by: Nick Farinola // Published by: Joe Ahart

 

 

2020 marks the start of a new decade, and with that comes the inevitable new years resolutioners. Ah yes, the new years resolutioners. The beginning of the new year means packed gyms, unfulfilled promises and the continuing threat of war! Instead of looking ahead, I thought I’d be a bit of a rebel and look the other way. Every year, tons of great games release alongside some pretty awful and mediocre ones, making it harder for any gamer to keep up. 

The first Gears received an Ultimate Edition Remaster prior to the release of the fourth installment [Credit: The Coalition]

I wanted to start this new year and decade off with a brand-new segment for GameFes.net; a completely unoriginal segment (seen on pretty much every other games media site) brilliantly named “Loochie’s Backtrack.” Catchy? No. Fun? Debatable! Without further ado, I’m Loochie and let’s backtrack!

 

In honor of Gears 5 releasing a couple of months ago, I made the fantastic decision to jump ahead to the prequel: Gears of War: Judgment. Let me start off by saying that Judgment didn’t bring anything new to the table other than trivial polishes to the already refined and bombastic Gears mechanics and a confusing change to the well-established control scheme of previous titles. It’s a Gears of War game to the end, and by God there is nothing wrong with that in the slightest! It’s a hyper-violent, briskly paced story centered around Lieutenant Baird’s demotion to private. Baird is as snarky and smart-ass-y as ever alongside his squad of new characters and a disappointingly hushed Cole Train. 

[Credit: People Can Fly/Epic Games]

 

Unfortunately, by playing through Judgment in 2020 without a remastered version existing for current generation consoles, the multiplayer – aside from co-op campaign and horde mode -is non-existent.

 

The “catch” of Judgement, if you will, is this integrated challenge system (titled ‘Declassifieds’) represented at the start of each mission by a interactable Gears logo. A challenge could range from Locusts wielding lancers to finish this specific mission in a set amount of time before a weapons depot explodes, meaning game over. Developers People Can Fly and Epic Games cleverly integrated this challenge system by writing it into the characters’ dialogue. 

 

Gears is among other classic games like Halo where it has to be played on harder difficulties. Mix tough difficulty with unique challenge scenarios with a buddy or three and you have yourself a bloody good time! I hate myself. Similar to Halo’s seven Vidmaster challenges, snagging all those tough achievements in Judgment adds several more hours to the overall play time.

A Declassify mission (top left) represented by the Gears logo. [Credit: People Can Fly/Epic Games]

Judgment was the awkward little brother of this franchise that could have totally served as Gears of War 3DLC, but nevertheless, I don’t regret a second of time spent playing through it. The Gears lore is both expansive and incredibly entertaining, so any chance to dive back into the world is a treat. 

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare BETA Impressions

Written by: Nick Farinola // Published by: Joe Ahart

Dozens of hours and 26-levels later, the official Call of Duty: Modern Warfare open, cross-play BETA has ended. Damn, this will be quite a year for Call of Duty. As an avid fan of the series, I generally buy – okay, I buy – every entry each year. It wouldn’t be a new Call of Duty without the same b.s. YouTube comments about how the new game looks identical to the previous. It appears that nowadays, it’s cool to ride along on the Call of Duty hate train. Well, toot-toot away, haters. Modern Warfare feels like the perfect balance of nostalgia and innovation that the series needed…and it releases this Friday, October 25th!

Before delving into my impressions, it’s important to note that I played the BETA on a base Playstation 4 with minimal to nonexistent server problems or hiccups. I am aware that some people across all three platforms experienced heavy server crashes and other technical issues, but my experience couldn’t have been any smoother. To kick off my impressions, Modern Warfare is whole-heartedly a Call of Duty game. Each year, a new game might release with a fancy coat of paint and a spin-off title or sequel, but you can’t argue that it always feels like Call of Duty. This is by no means a critical opinion towards the series. Call of Duty is probably the most refined and finely-tuned, fluid first-person shooter on the market. The point I’m going towards is that no matter if your character is named Price or Mason, or has a jet pack or exo-suit, Call of Duty is, well, Call of Duty. 

Credit: [Infinity Ward/Activision]

Modern Warfare’s BETA gave us quite a bit of content. Within this last open BETA weekend, we got a taste of the night-vision mode (all the maps are at night, forcing the player to use night vision goggles), classic COD game modes such as team deathmatch and domination, some new modes such as the massive Ground War (reminiscent of Electronic Art’s Battlefield), and refined game modes such as Cyber Attack, which is essentially Search and Destroy that grants the ability to revive fallen teammates. The BETA also offered the special award of a silenced, sawed-off shotgun for use when the game drops on October 25th for players who reach a level 10 or higher before the end. This leads me to one of my only concerns for the main game that I want to dish out first. A huge factor in the longevity of a multiplayer game is this sense of constant progression. Players want to work towards achieving something or else, what’s the point? In the BETA, the player has 30 levels to gain and several guns from multiple weapon types and unique killstreaks to unlock, but towards the end, I felt in need of more to work towards. I’m not sure about how the main game will handle this, but players were unable to unlock and sort of camos for their weapons. I am completely aware that Modern Warfare is going for a more grounded, mature and realistic approach to the series, but I’m talking red tiger and other classics to unlock, not the ridiculous plethora of camos Black Ops IV has to offer. Aside from this, my only other real gripe were some of the map layouts. I thought the look and feel of the several offered to us were great, but some felt too similar. Also, some of the maps heavily encourage camping, and it definitely brought out the 13-year-old rage in me that I remember from the original Modern Warfare back in 2007. Other than those minor concerns, Modern Warfare is stacking up to be my favorite the series has offered in years.

My personal weapon of choice. Here’s a look at the Gunsmith. Credit: [Infinity Ward/Activison]

Black Ops IV wasn’t my cup of tea. The specializations, health bars and fancy camos just never clicked with me, but I commend Treyarch for changing up the formula with their exclusion of a typical campaign and the inclusion of the excellent Battle Royale mode Blackout. I for one used to buy these games solely for their over-the-top, Michael Bay-esque campaigns, so that exclusion left a sour taste in my mouth. My reason for bringing up Black Ops IV is to compare it to Modern Warfare. Played side-by-side, these are two very different Call of Duty games. Modern Warfare, for me, is the perfect blend of Modern Warfare (2007), Modern Warfare 2 and Ghosts. Based off of player feedback and by listening in to conversations online, I am certain that Modern Warfare will not only bring in a huge new community of players, but returning veterans itching for the good ‘ole days of infinity Ward. I can not explain the amount of times I heard this conversation between people: 

Gamer 1 – “Dude, this is actually really fun.”  Gamer 2 – “Yeah, it feels like Modern Warfare 2.” and who could forget Gamer 3, who added nothing to the conversation – “Yeah.”   

Riveting conversations online, folks. 

 

Cyber Attack, Modern Warfare’s spin on Search and Destroy. Credit: [infinity Ward/Activision]

What struck me the most in the best way possible was the sheer umph of the weapons. Shooting everything in this game feels weighty and great. The sounds of the bullets punching through your enemy are both rewarding and cringe-inducing, especially when the final kill cam is a perfectly placed headshot. The sound design is on point here. One of the new notable gameplay additions include sprinting faster by double tapping on the sprint button, causing your character to run with his or her gun facing upwards. It doesn’t seem that groundbreaking (mostly because it isn’t), but I found myself using it a lot more than I anticipated. It spared my life in most instances by just making it behind cover in enough time to escape my enemy’s fatal final bullet. The player is also now able to mount their weapons to peak from behind cover, similar to, but not as intuitive as Ubisoft’s popular competitive shooter Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege. Again, didn’t think twice about it when starting the BETA, and then wound up utilizing it more than I thought that I would. Aside from the obvious new weapons, killstreaks, modes and tactical equipment, everything seems so refined…so finely-tuned. It’s tough to describe, but it all just feels so right and not half-assed. The new killstreaks are fun and satisfying, doing away with those ridiculous scorestreaks that have plagued the series for too long. Cyber Attack, Modern Warfare’s new spin on Search and Destroy, is incredibly competitive, tense and engaging. The addition of reviving fallen teammates and three-second defuse times also add an entire new layer of strategy.  

 

The highest pre-order edition offered: The Dark Edition. Credit: [Infinity Ward/Activision]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare took hold of me and never let go. I want the full game now, and that’s a feeling I haven’t had in recent memory for COD games. The new gameplay and design additions are more than worthy, and after the recent story trailer that dropped, we are all in store for a mature, gritty campaign narrative. Did you guys get a chance to try out the BETA? What are your thoughts? Drop a comment!
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare releases on Friday, October 25, 2019 for Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC

Dead by Daylight: The Perfect Halloween Treat

Written by: Nick Farinola // Published by: Joe Ahart

In the spirit of Halloween, I downloaded Dead by Daylight through my Xbox GamePass subscription and logged on just under ten hours. For those of you living under a rock your entire life, Dead by Daylight is an asymmetrical multiplayer game where one player-controlled killer roams around an arena hunting four other player-controlled survivors. The ill-fated Friday the 13th game developed by Gun Media, Illfonic and Black Tower Studios is a similar game in the vein of 4 vs. 1 multiplayer, but due to a legal battle over Jason, development on future DLC has halted. Dead by Daylight, developed by Behaviour Interactive, originally released for Microsoft Windows back in June of 2016, then subsequently to consoles the following year. From what I grasped in my ten-or-so-hours is that its community is incredibly toxic and competitive. I’ve received some beautiful messages from fellow players like this:

“Get the f**k off the game, newb.”

“Send me your address, I will literally find you and beat the sh*t out of you.”

And my favorite so far:

“Kill yourself.”

Simply beautiful.

Don’t get me wrong; Dead by Daylight is one helluva game. At its best, it’s an immensely stressful, team-oriented fight to the death. At its worst, it’s a lonely and frustrating game full of complete assholes and trolls. My little brother is a prime example of a normal Dead by Daylight player, and I’ve experienced his personality first hand. As a survivor main (Meg), he has very…strong feelings about some of the killers – especially Ghost Face. According to my 15-year-old brother, Ghost Face is one of the most broken, and easy to play killers in the game. After a poor game overall with zero communication from his team, my brother proceeded to send a hate message to the killer solely because he decided to play as Ghost Face. Poor Fella. Like I said, be prepared for 15-year-old turds sending you “kill yourself” messages.

Credit: [Behaviour Interactive]

If a toxic community doesn’t bother you, then great! There’s a ton offered here, and it’s actually a much more complex and profound game than I had initially anticipated. There’s a vast perk system unlocked through the “bloodweb,” three different currencies, each used for either the purchase of perks and items or killer/survivor cosmetics, several killers and survivors to sink your teeth into (some from iconic horror franchises), daily challenges to complete, and a handful of maps unique with their own strategies. Again, if you’re active in the gaming community, odds are you are aware of Dead by Daylight or even play it. From afar, Dead by Daylight appears to be a rather typical asymmetrical multiplayer game, where the killer, well, attempts to kill everyone, and the survivors activate a handful of generators to eventually unlock the escape route. Depending on whether you’re a survivor or killer main, the objective will always be the same, yet the many different strategies keep the rather repetitive gameplay loop feeling fresh.

A cosmetic pack available through Steam. Credit: [Behaviour Interactive, Valve]

I mentioned before the inclusion of several horror icons available as DLC. You got the (apparently) much-maligned Ghost Face from Scream, the Shape a.k.a. Michael Myers from Halloween, Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street, Amanda Young from the gore-happy Saw franchise, and most recently, the Demogorgon from the Stranger Things universe. Odds of us seeing a playable Jason Vorhees character in the foreseeable future is slim, but one can dream! On top of these not-so-friendly faces, you have a slew of other original killers. On the survivors’ side, we got Steve Harrington and Nancy Wheeler and even Ash from the Evil Dead trilogy! I had briefly mentioned cosmetics, and how they can be earned or purchased by using certain currencies from the game. Both the killers and the survivors can be fully customized with different rarity outfits that can be mix-matched at any point. And for those of you wondering, yes, Steve Harrington’s “Scoops Ahoy!” outfit is available for purchase in the game. Go crazy. This added layer of customization and bloodweb unlocking further strengthens the longevity and replayability of the game. What’s a multiplayer game without any rewards?  

 

Dead by Daylight may have released just over three years ago, but its growing player base and lore continue to pull me back into the nightmare for just one more match. Happy hunting, folks!
You can snag Dead by Daylight on Steam for $19.99 or for as low as $7.19 on G2A.com, and the console edition anywhere from $18.99 to $24.99 on Amazon. It’s important to note that the game is on sale regularly through Steam for $9.99.

‘Ghost Recon: Breakpoint’ OR ‘Borderlands 3’?

Written by: Nick Farinola // Published by: Joe Ahart

Let me preface by saying that this article is more of a way to help me decide what I want rather than an in-depth analysis of all the exciting new game releasing in Q4 2019. I’m having a personal dilemma; two vastly different games from two beloved franchises of mine are releasing within a few weeks of each other, but I want to save money for future releases. Talk about first-world problem, am I right?! Ubisoft’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint is the next installment/sequel to 2017’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands, an open-world, “tactical” third-person shooter with light RPG elements that received consistent updates throughout its lifetime, earning a respected status amongst the Ghost Recon community. It releases October 4th (October 1st for those who decide to pick up the gold or ultimate editions for $100 and $120 respectively). Gearbox’s highly-anticipated looter shooter Borderlands 3 arrives this Friday, September 13th with three different (and also very tempting!) editions for pre order. The life or death situation: Which one do I choose?

 

I have to admit something about myself. This is hard for me, but I told myself that I would. I call myself a gamer, but I’m actually more of a game hoarder. I know, I know…terrible. For those of you unaware of my terminology, a game hoarder is one who simply purchases video games only to play them a handful of times before going on to the next one. The fall and winter months are a great time for video games (after a brief hiatus or slow-down in the summer months), but a horrible one for my wallet. 2019 is no exception. We got Borderlands 3, Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Need for Speed: Heat, Death Stranding, Doom Eternal – I mean, Jesus, it never ends! Kojima’s game alone is reason to panic (especially since I pre ordered the $200 edition that comes with a life-size BT baby that will do nothing but collect dust in my room). Again, I am completely aware of how much I sound like a spoiled douche, but let me have this moment to nerd vent.

 

Cole D. Walker (played by Jon Bernthal), leader of the Wolves and Breakpoint’s antagonist.

Okay, let’s focus our attention on the two games I’m having trouble deciding between. Borderlands is a series I grew up with, a series I’ve sunk countless middle school hours online with friends, a series that holds many precious gaming memories. Why wouldn’t I pick the third installment? Well, I know for sure that I’ll either pick this one up now or wait a couple of months for a Christmas discount. Then there’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint. Say what you want about developer Ubisoft, but they are consistently pumping out products and updates to their new and current games, further expanding their player bases and game longevity. I’ve easily sunk nearly 150-plus hours combined in Assassin’s Creed: Origins and Odyssey. Ubisoft has successfully updated Assassin’s Creed to appeal to a wide variety of gamers. Fans of the original games have the continued storyline and lore to delve into, while action RPG fans can feel right at home with Odyssey’s progression, skill and loot system. Ubisoft has also released a yearly roadmap for Breakpoint, highlighting the upcoming updates for each month. Its genius marketing when you think about it. Real quick, I want to state that there are many problems with the industry now in the form of greedy microtransactions and work-in-progress/live service games like the Division and Destiny, but by assuring your consumers that a game will only get bigger and better with time will more-than-likely yield increased income. 

 

Going off of the roadmap point, the one reason why I see Breakpoint as a better investment in the long run is because Borderlands 3 seems to have a weaker endgame. Sure, there are three or four promised campaign DLCs (which, based off of previous DLC installments, will likely be worth the money), but Breakpoint will definitely be heavily supported post launch more so than Borderlands 3. Then again, Borderlands 3 has four unique classes (and skill trees) to play in an alleged 30-hour campaign, urging more than one playthrough. On the other hand, I am almost certain that Breakpoint, based off of the launch of the previous entry and pretty much all triple-A Ubisoft games, will contain more bugs than the Amazon jungle, server issues, and maybe even turn out to be light on content. From what I’ve seen and from previous launches, Borderlands 3 will be a consistently smooth experience with zero broken promises. You know what you’re coming for, and Gearbox delivers. 

 

Our 4 new vaulthunters! [Credit: Gearbox Software]

Aside from weighing the financial aspects, both games couldn’t be any different. Sure, both are considered looter shooters, but gameplay and tone-wise, they’re vastly different. Borderlands 3, being a first-person, tongue-and-cheek action RPG with humor more juvenile than the infamous “dickbutt” drawing in the stalls of your middle school bathroom is on the opposite spectrum of the tone and gameplay of Breakpoint. Tom Clancy games are military/espionage-based, tactical action games, and Breakpoint promises to be more tactical and strategic than its predecessor. One is balls-to-the-wall action, while the other is balls-tucked-in. The problem is, I don’t have a preference as to whether I want my balls on the wall or tucked in. 

 

It’s pretty clear that I won’t come to a conclusion by this Friday, but I hope this helped those of you unclear about either game that I had mentioned. If you were, what rock were you living under? There are a ton of awesome games releasing at the end of this year, and I’ve listed them below for you. If you made it this far, maybe check out my early impressions of Remnant: From the Ashes. Thanks a million for taking the time to read my unnecessary rant!      

BIG GAME RELEASES Q4 2019

 

September: 

Monster Hunter World: Iceborne – Sept. 6

NBA 2K20 – Sept. 6

Gears 5 – Sept. 10

Borderlands 3  – Sept. 13

NHL 20 – Sept. 13

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening – Sept. 20

The Surge 2 – Sept. 24

Code Vein – Sept. 27

FIFA 20 – Sept. 27
October:

Destiny 2: Shadowkeep (expansion) – Oct. 1

Ghost Recon: Breakpoint – Oct. 1 (for Gold and Ultimate editions) and Oct. 4 (Standard edition)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare – Oct. 25

The Outer Worlds – Oct. 25

Luigi’s Mansion 3 – Oct. 31
November:

Death Stranding – Nov. 8

Need for Speed: Heat – Nov. 8

Pokemon Shield and Sword – Nov. 15

Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order – Nov. 15

Shenmue III – Nov. 19

Doom Eternal – Nov. 22

     

‘Remnant: From The Ashes’ First Impressions

Written By: Nick Farinola // Edited By: Joe Ahart

Remnant: From the Ashes, developed by Gunfire Games (who you may recognize from Darksiders II and the recently-released Darksiders III), is a third-person, rogue-like, action RPG with many elements heavily borrowed from the “Soulsborne” series, developed by From Software. This game has been on my radar for some time now, but I would have never imagined it to garner as much positive critical and user reception as it has recently. 

When I hear comparisons to Dark Souls, I somehow instantly feel pessimistic. I can think of several quote-on-quote Dark Souls clones that either successfully create their own unique formula out of a pre-existing one or fail terribly. I’ve stated previously that I am not the biggest Soulsborne fan out there. Quite honestly, I resent most of the games and their masochistic fanbase, but I do respect the hell out of them. They’re not geared towards the casual gamer, but its profound lore, stunning art design and moment-to-moment, tense gameplay (to name a few) are (initially) insanely appealing. I never got Dark Souls, but for some reason, some of my most hilarious gaming memories stem from the series. 

Credit: [Gunfire Games]

 

I’m not here to talk Dark Souls; there are way more in-depth articles and videos elsewhere. This article will cover the first three hours of gameplay in Remnant: From the Ashes. Let me say this first, I may not be a hardcore gamer, but Dark Souls did teach me a great amount in patience. Where Dark Souls asked the player to be more thoughtful and defensive with their approach to combat, Bloodborne demanded the opposite. You still needed to understand the map and all of its hidden secrets, you still needed to respect even the weakest of enemies (who could take you out with just a couple of well-timed hits), and you still needed a s$&t-ton of patience to get past the easiest of encounters. I may not have beaten any of those games, but I took everything that the series demanded and used it in Remnant. 

I won’t lie. I died…I died a lot. Remnant isn’t an easy game, but it isn’t as challenging of a game if you understand and respect the threats it poses against you. From the very beginning, when your character wields only a sword, I was meticulous with everything. I checked every nook and cranny, treaded carefully in case of an ambush, and approached combat in a cautious manner. Once the tutorial is completed, the game drops you in Ward 13, a safe zone or hub world, if you will. From here, you meet a ton of NPCs that offer you anything from personal worries and kind words to weapon and armor upgrades. In the center of Ward 13, is this giant red crystal that acts as a sort of main travel point between other smaller red crystals. Is it obvious that these crystals resemble the bonfires from Dark Souls? Yes? Good. 

Once you travel outside of Ward 13, the game’s resemblance to Dark Souls really starts to show. Let me make it (crystal) clear that this is in no way a bad thing. Remnant is not Dark Souls with guns. It would be find as an elevator pitch. But, that would be the ultimate disservice to this great game. Once outside of Ward 13, the large, non-linear map design shines. You never really know where to go first, or where one path might lead, but that’s where the excitement stems from (no pun intended). One path up a dilapidated skyscraper overgrown with tree roots brought me to a Tome of Knowledge, a free trait point, while another led me to a horde of ash devils and hollows, or better known as DEATH. 

From left: Scrapper, Hunter, and Ex-Cultist. Credit: [Gunfire Games]

Death in Remnant is a little more forgiving than its Dark Souls inspiration. When you die, you return to your last checkpoint crystal with everything you had found in the world. All of the enemies respawn, but you’re now able to easily travel back to Ward 13 to upgrade your weapons and armor with the scrap you had collected in your last run. 

When talking about enemies, I want to make a comparison to Doom. This is strange, but hear me out. In Doom (2016), the game relentlessly throws a seemingly insurmountable amount of enemies your way. For Doom Slayer, this is a stroll in a park, but in Remnant, it forces you to approach combat in three different ways. There are three classes in the game to choose from, Scrapper, Hunter and Ex-Cultist. They differ in armor appearance, starting weapons, and range attacks. Scrapper is your close-combat tank armed with a shotgun, whereas Hunter is your long-range alternative armed with a repeater. Ex-Cultist arms you with a mid-range weapon. Each class comes with different traits to unlock, and adds a great layer or replayability on top of the procedurally generated campaign world and bosses.

One trait to upgrade is Enemy Awareness. Credit: [Gunfire Games]

There are certain mod slots that can be added to your weapons based off of the class that you decide, but I haven’t explored this aspect as much as I would like to confidently speak on the matter. As a hunter, I unlocked this mod (that can only be used after damaging a certain number of enemies) that highlights enemies in the surrounding area. On top of mods, there are also consumables, bandages, scrap and jewelry buffs scattered around each environment. The Bloodwort regenerates health at a rate of 1.7 HP per second for 30 seconds, and is second in health regeneration only to the Dragon Heart, which is essentially the Estus Flask. Not only does it fully heal the player, it also instantly resurrects a teammate. 

The game, to some extent, is meant to be played cooperatively, but don’t let that stop you solo players. There are many people who’d prefer to play a solo run. 

So far, I’m surprised that I’m enjoying my time with Remnant. I never thought i would like a game like this, but so far it is the perfect blend of excellent gunplay and challenge. The enemy design is awesome, the environments are detailed (albeit somewhat bland in the beginning stages) and large, and the moment-to-moment gameplay is tense and fun as hell. 

If you’re a casual gamer like me on the fence about Remnant, be sure to know that this isn’t Dark Souls with guns. It’s a rare, unique twist on the well-known Soulsborne formula. 

Remnant: From the Ashes is available now on PC, Playstation 4 and Xbox One for $39.99.   

7 Games To Prepare for the Area 51 Raid

Written by: Nick Farinola // Edited by: Joe Ahart

Area 51 is somewhat of a hot topic online. Whether you call BS on the siege or not, you can’t deny the interest behind the idea of wanting to know the history of what goes on behind the sealed doors of the notorious and highly classified US Air Force base. Do aliens actually exist? Are these alien lifeforms being experimented on in Area 51? Is our government hiding their existence from us on purpose? So many questions, so little answers. That is unless our people storm the compound. If you’re one of those people who had signed up on the Facebook group to charge Area 51, I have a list of seven games that will prepare you for the battle. I’ve compiled a small list of both retro and contemporary games that may or may not, depending on your mood or whether or not you’re an internet troll looking for a brawl, have been as widely accepted and praised as other games, but play along, would ya?

First up we have Area 51. I mean, I would be doing everyone a disservice if this game was absent from my list. It has Area 51 in the title for crying out loud! In 2005, the now defunct Midway released a pretty standard first-person-shooter with an overly-complex plot circulating around, well, Area 51! To make everything simple, the 1947 UFO crash in Roswell, New Mexico was covered up by the government and then brought to the Area 51 compound. The Greys (a.k.a the alien people on the cover of the box) made contact with the illuminati, and from there on struck a deal, giving the illuminati advanced weaponry and the ability to perform research on human subjects with a mutagenic virus. Simple, right? Well, at least it sounds cool. Exploring the depths of Area 51 all while engaging in fun combat with aliens and the illuminati are great fun. Oh, did I happen to mention that you can unleash mutagenic powers once you get infected early on in the game? No? Yeah, you can do that.

Up next, we got a personal favorite of mine. Destroy All Humans! (2005) And Destroy All Humans 2! (2006) (don’t worry about the others that come after) place the player in the space boots of Crypto, or Cryptosporidium 137 if you want to be technical, an alien who arrives on Earth in 1959 to investigate Earth and search for his predecessor clone, Cryptosporidium-136, who disappeared in 1947. The objective? Well, destroy all humans. Taking the form of what cinema and pop culture deemed acceptable for what an alien would look like then, Crypto is a small, potty-mouthed, grey alien with a un-proportionally big head and huge eyes. The satirical, overly-exaggerated nature of it all, the violence, and the B-movie plot culminate to deliver exactly what its title promises. Crypto is armed to the teeth with awesome alien weaponry, from an electricity ray to an anal probe, and has a ton of ridiculous mind abilities, allowing the player to mind read and to disguise themselves as another human for a short period of time. 

Coming up at number three is Saints Row IV, which is probably the oddest entry in the series. If you’re a fan of the series, then you’re aware that it wasn’t until the third game that it found its footing to differentiate itself from Grand Theft Auto. We transition from dildo melee weapons to fighting an alien invasion as the president of the United States in a simulated reality…kind of like the Matrix. Come to think of it, Saints Row IV is the Matrix. If an alien invasion wasn’t enough of a catch to buy this game, then the fact that you have super powers should. As I continue to explain this game to you, the more I realize that it really is the Matrix. The Saints Row series is known for its crass and over-the-top humor, and the fourth entry does not disappoint in that department, delivering an insanely fun gameplay, and an entire city to wipe clean of the alien infestation.

And at number four, I bring to you Dead Space. Where do I even begin? This game series has a special place in my heart, which is ironic because it never fails to scare the living shit out of me. You play as Isaac Clarke, a space engineer looking for his girlfriend who went silent on the USG Ishimura, an interstellar mining ship. Little does Isaac know, the Ishimura has been devastated by an alien infestation, turning people into reanimated corpses known as “Necromorphs.” The atmosphere is suffocating, the violence brutal, and the lore profound. The series draws heavily from movies like James Cameron’s Aliens (1986) and Paul W.S. Anderson’s Event Horizon (1997). The third-person, survival horror game-play is tense as Isaac must adapt and develop weaponry to take on the varied alien threat. Though each entry never sold notably well (and the third game having more of an action focus that ultimately led to the demise of Visceral games), cult interest did spark comic book and animated film adaptations.

Poor Isaac can’t catch a break. [Credit: Visceral Games, EA]

Next up is Alien Isolation. Look, I’ve praised this game so much in both my writing and my YouTube videos, so I’ll try and keep this succinct. Alien Isolation is arguably the best Alien game on the market right now. Playing off of the defensive mechanics of Outlast, Alien Isolation introduces us to Amanda Ripley…that’s right, the daughter of Ellen. Aware of her mother’s disappearance, Amanda comes across the Nostromo’s flight recorder located on the Sevastopol, a remote space station owned by the Seegson corporation. As you’d probably assumed, all hell breaks loose when an alien infestation devours the station. The game does arm Ripley with certain weapons and gadgets, but she is in no way a colonial marine. Ammo is scarce, and the alien hunting you in an unscripted manner cannot be killed, so stealth is usually the best approach. What struck me about this game immediately was the overall presentation, something developer Creative Assembly nailed. The retro futuristic vibe of the original movies is here full force, and on a technical level, the game is impressive. Aside from a few noticeable frame drops, the dynamic lighting and fog system seriously enhance the experience. Unlike some of the other games on this list, Alien Isolation will prepare you to take on a more menacing alien force with careful consideration. 

You better hope the Xeno doesn’t see you. [Credit: Creative Assembly]

The last two on my list differ greatly in quality, but I wanted to include them together. Duke Nukem Forever is a critically-panned abomination. Well, that’s what critics believed at least. To me, it’s a testosterone-fueled adventure with the beloved Duke Nukem as he takes on an alien threat to our home planet. He’s here to chew bubblegum and kick some ass…only problem is, he’s all out of gum. As a Duke Nukem game, it’s disappointing, but the fact that it’s not a complete shit show after its hellish development is a miracle in its own right. Duke Nukem Forever will deliver all the thrills you need for a Friday night for a cheap price. Hail to the king, baby! The other game, or rather game series, is XCOM; specifically XCOM Enemy Unknown and XCOM 2. This is an alien game that forces you to use your noggin. XCOM is a notoriously difficult, turn-based strategy game, but dying has never been so exciting. The games introduce, and are known for the permadeath mechanic, where any one of your soldiers, no matter how upgraded they are, can die and stay dead. You more often than not feel incredibly overwhelmed and outnumbered, but a smart commander comes out victorious. 

Hail to the king, baby! [Credit: 2K, 3D Realms, Gearbox Software, Triptych Games, Piranha Games]

So folks, here’s your Area 51 survival guide. Did I miss any other games that could help against an actual alien threat? Let me know! As always, thanks so much for taking the time to read, and for those of you actually going to Nevada…good luck.     

8 Games You’ve Probably Never Played, But Should.

Written by: Nick Farinola // Edited by: Nick Farinola and Joe Ahart

 

When I think of video games, the first thing, or person rather, that pops in my head is Master Chief from the Halo series. Halo is the prime example of a jam-packed, epic AAA-game with a massive budget allocated to the developers and publishers to spend on production as well as advertising. Keep in mind, video games, just like everything else, are products of business. Just like any business entity, there lurks competition. The video game industry is cluttered with new and old studios working on several different games at once most of the time. Grand Theft Auto is another appropriate example of a AAA, massively successful video game series. Rockstar, the developers behind the series, continues to one-up themselves with every entry from a technical, narrative, and gameplay standpoint. To put it simply, whenever Rockstar drops a new game every five to eight years or so, it pretty much dominates in sales for not only that specific year, but the years to come. Recently the fifth entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, which released in September of 2013 for last generation consoles and PC, has been named the most successful entertainment title ever. According to MarketWatch, GTA V has sold over 90 million copies across all platforms since its release in 2013, and has grossed a total of $6 billion from a budget of $265 million. Impressive, is it not? Let me rewind a bit. This article isn’t about me meandering around the video game industry as a business, but rather it’s about some of the lesser known, indie games that haven’t had quite the same opportunity to grasp the same spotlight as GTA or Halo. Here are eight of my favorite indie games that you (probably) have never heard of at all. As a short disclaimer, one of these entries is now currently offline as it was an Xbox Live Summer of Arcade exclusive back in 2012.

1. Gone Home

Starting off our list is a little game that I found on Steam back in 2013 not because of how popular it was, but because of how much hate it was getting at the time for its abrupt and supposedly unsatisfying finale and short length. Developed and published by the Fullbright Company (known for their work on Bioshock 2: Minerva’s Den DLC), and released for PC in August of 2013 (and for PS4 and Xbox One consoles in January of 2016 and Nintendo Switch in 2018 respectively), Gone Home tells a rather personal, small-scaled story set in the year 1995. Gone Home puts the player in the role of a young woman returning from overseas to her rural Oregon family home to find her family currently absent and the house empty, leaving her to piece together recent events. There is no combat, there are no NPCs to receive quests, and the story could be completed in just under two hours (maybe a little more if you’re a completionist). The gameplay is rather atypical in the sense that you are dropped into this large, empty house piecing together just where the hell your family had gone. It’s incredibly atmospheric, and at times I felt genuinely frightened by…nothing. The ambiance is downright unnerving, but the story couldn’t be any different. The game relies heavily on the player’s will of exploration and interactivity with the different rooms within the house. A large amount of what you can see can also be inspected or used to progress the story. It garnered much critical praise when it was released, but many users were critical of the ending, which honestly came out of left field up until the end when more details were revealed. For me, Gone Home symbolized a new direction for video games – a more artistic, surreal direction.

One of several references to the time period. [Credit: Fullbright]

2. Outlast 2

Okay, okay, I might be stretching this one a bit, but let me have some fun! Outlast 2 is the much anticipated sequel to the cult favorite horror game of the same name (minus the ‘2’ of course) developed and published by Red Barrels in April of 2017. Outlast basically takes the Amensia formula of defenselessness, but adds its own little flare. If you thought Outlast was an exhausting game, then play the second. It’s utterly traumatizing at points, and that’s no joke. The story goes as follows: A journalist named Blake Langermann, along with his wife Lynn, roaming the Arizona desert to explore the murder of a pregnant woman only known as Jane Doe. Unsurprisingly, their helicopter crashes, separating the two in a village inhabited by a religious cult that believes the end of days is upon us. Any time religion and horror are intertwined, you pretty much know what to expect. Outlast’s defining mechanic is the ability to use the night vision camera. The camera allows you to see in the mostly pitch black environments, while also creating an additional layer of stress with a depleting battery life. The game favors stealth, but finding yourself being chased by a dozen blood-thirsty hillbillies is inevitable. The story takes you to weird and increasingly terrifying locales at a brisk pace, uncovering a deeply haunting twist that spans back to Blake and Lynn’s childhood. My only gripe with the game is the trial and error feeling throughout. There are moments where you’re running from enemies in the pitch blackness deep within the woods with zero indication of where to go to next. It only takes a few hits to go down before you’re face-to-face with the game over screen. Aside from that petty gripe, Outlast 2 takes everything that made the first game terrifying and amplifies it to ten. It’s sick, twisted, and undeniably irresistible. After you’ve finished the game, head over to my YouTube channel where I delve a little deeper within the lore of Blake and Lynn’s old school.

 

No…just, no. [Credit: Red Barrels]

3. Hybrid

WARNING, this game is unfortunately offline. Hybrid was one of those games released within the Xbox Live Summer of Arcade era on last gen consoles, and one that unfortunately fell under quickly. Developed by 5th Cell and utilizing Valve’s Source engine, Hybrid is a third-person, multiplayer-only shooter that pits two factions (the alien Variants and the human Paladins) against each other in cover-based arenas. Story is unimportant, but those two factions that I mentioned before fight for control of dark matter after a catastrophic event in 2032 left Earth in turmoil. It’s your run-of-the-mill B movie trash that is solely there to give justification for the action. Players from the start are able to choose which faction to fight for in this all out battle or weekly ‘season’ that ultimately ends with one winning faction before resetting. Whichever faction claims 200 dark matter first wins. The winning faction is granted a champion helmet piece to gloat in front of the losing faction for the next season. Hybrid relies heavily on its rather standard third-person cover system, but the real kick lies in the jet packs. The player is able to jump from one platform to the next, whether it be upside down or rightside up. Various (generic) weaponry is at your disposal as well as the ability to call in drones to assist you in battle. There was a rather half-baked customization system, but it wasn’t expansive or deep enough to warrant too much hassle over. Hybrid being apart of the Xbox Live Summer of Arcade roster meant that it wasn’t very expensive, and that it offered many hours of enjoyment up until its eventual demise. Hey, there’s always YouTube.    

The Variants. [Credit: 5th Cell]

4. Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

Remember when I said that Outlast 2 was one of the most grueling, heart-wrenching video game experiences I’ve ever had? Well, Hellblade is a whole other experience worthy of its own spot on the list. Developed by a team of twenty people at Ninja Theory, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice  follows Senua, a Pict warrior who must make her way to Helheim by defeating otherworldly entities and facing their challenges, in order to rescue the soul of her dead lover from the goddess Hela. It is heavily inspired by Norse mythology, so if you still have that Nordic itch after playing God of War, here’s a game to satiate that. Hellblade is an emotional rollercoaster through Hell – to put it lightly. Senua suffers from what appears to be schizophrenia, and throughout the game, players are haunted by many voices within Senua’s head. Sometimes, however, the voices give information about the environment, whether it concerns certain visual puzzles or if an enemy behind you is about to strike you down (the voices will yell, “Watch out! Behind you!). The game brings awareness to mental illnesses, which immediately got the attention of cult fanbase. The core gameplay revolves around long stretches of walking and story beats, brutal, third-person sword combat, and obnoxious visual puzzles that slow the pace to a crawl and very quickly overstay their welcome. The combat is absolutely stellar in that it’s fast, brutal and fluid. Try playing this one with the lights off and headphones set to max volume. Hellblade proves that you don’t need an unlimited budget to make an amazing AAA gaming experience.

Go to Helheim they said, it’ll be fun they said. [Credit: Ninja Theory]

5. Naughty Bear

This one will certainly be the most divisive because I am almost sure that I am the only person to actually like this game. Set in the 1980s on the fictional ‘Perfection Island,’ teddy bears live in harmony…that is, most of them do. That harmony is ruined when Naughty Bear is laughed at when preparing a present for Daddles’ birthday party. He is enraged and the carnage ensues. Naughty Bear is your standard hack-and-slash, third person action game with some broken stealth mechanics. The story is pieced together in chapters that see Naughty going up against the Mayor, ninja bears, and even robot and zombie bears. It’s absolutely ludicrous, and I just can’t get enough of it. The player basically goes around each contained environment setting up traps and stealthing their way until every bear is slain (or the challenges given to you are complete). The kill animations are simultaneously clever, brutal and humorous whether you cut the bears to pieces with your machete or throw them into a giant cake machine until they are nothing but stuffing. The game plays off of ‘80s horror culture effectively…and that’s pretty much all it has going for it. It’s ridiculously short, the stealth and enemy AI are broken – how is it that I can hide behind a giant leaf as my prey walks right past me, get up, beat one of them to death with a baseball bat, only to find the remaining survivors chase me back into the same hiding spot where they suddenly forget where I am – and you’ve pretty much seen everything the game has to offer within the first thirty minutes. I’m bad at selling this, aren’t I? Tell me though what other game places you in the body of a psychotic killer teddy bear where your only objective is to kill those responsible for making fun of you before a birthday party you weren’t invited to? That’s what I thought. You could even drive the other teddy bears to suicide if you kill off enough of their friends – brilliant. Okay, I’m embarrassed, moving on!

Daddles, you really should have invited Naughty to your birthday party. [Credit: Behaviour Interactive/505 Games]

6. Dayz

Ah, Dayz. You either love this game or you hate it. Somehow, I fall in the middle. Developed by Bohemia Interactive, Dayz is the standalone game based off of a mod (of ARMA II) of the same name. After a five-year-long early access journey, it finally released for PC in December of 2018, and shortly after on Xbox One in Q1 2019. Let me get this off my chest immediately before I continue. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME FOR XBOX ONE. Remember PUBG’s chaotic technical launch for Xbox One in Game Preview? Yeah? Well, Dayz is in an even worse state…of decay (see what I did there?). Dayz is either a third-person or first-person survival game set in the fictional post-Soviet Republic of Chernarus, where a typical plague wiped out half of the world’s population blah, blah, and now people must survive against the horde of the undead blah, blah…excuse me, the horde of “the infected.” It’s a brutal game experience in the sense that it’s incredibly tough to master. There are strategies of where to look for gear and loot, hidden lore, etc. Most of the time though, I found myself spawning in only to be tortured and inevitably shot by other players. I watched this one guy on YouTube get captured by this group where they then tied him up and forced him to eat human flesh. It was hilarious. The selling point for me was the idea that every time I spawned in, I never knew what the hell to expect. It’s thrilling, frustrating, and insanely rewarding if you give it the time. The developers still need time to iron out some of the bugs and glitches, but for the most part, the PC experience isn’t bad. The game is priced currently on steam at $45.00, which is a bit pricey. My advice, wait for a steam sale and pick it up for sure!

It’s a hard knock life. [Credit: Bohemia Interactive]

7. Song of the Deep

I honestly don’t think I’ve played a more beautiful game than Song of the Deep. Developed by Insomniac Games and published by GameTrust Games in July of 2016, Song of the Deep follows  Merryn, a 12-year-old girl who loves her father, a fisherman, especially when he tells her tall tales of his adventures. Her father, one night, vanishes leaving behind mysterious visions of him trapped in the ocean’s depths. Merryn, a determined adventurer, creates her own submarine built with unique gear to survive the perilous adventure that awaits her in the depths. The game is a metroidvania, puzzle, action game where the player navigates an intertwining area in search of new gear in order to progress to the next section. The artstyle is downright stunning, and I admired how difficult the game could get in some sections. Sometimes the difficulty felt artificial and unfair, but that didn’t get in the way of my love for this game. The different gear at your disposal is increasingly unique, and like any other metroidvania, the player should hunt for those hidden collectibles. Song of the Deep is an absolute must-buy!

[Credit: Insomniac Games/GameTrust Games]

8. Inside

Capping off this list is Playdead’s magnificent puzzle-platformer, adventure game Inside. Released in June of 2016, Inside is the follow-up to the widely praised Limbo. As one of the most well-known indie titles, Inside is an experience like no other – I guarantee that. The player is placed in control of an unnamed boy traversing surreal environments with no concrete explanation as to why he’s there, where’s he’s going, and why he’s going there. Everything about this bleak world is incredibly engaging that I often found  myself enamored by the mystery. Unfortunately for me, this is one of those games where the less I say, the better it is for you. The game mechanics are simplistic, leaving the story front and center in its weird complexity and metaphorical undertones. As the boy, you can run, jump, climb, and interact with certain things in your environment. The chase sequences are thrilling in the sense that you’re always somehow escaping by the skin of your teeth. I found my entire body jumping with the boy because the environment itself is so overwhelming. You actually feel like you’re trapped in this nightmare, and boy is it glorious.

If only you knew what they were looking at. [Credit: Playdead]

So there you have it folks. Here are eight of my favorite indie games that you may or may not have heard of, but one thing’s for sure, you should definitely check them out! Also, do me the favor of letting me know your thoughts on my list and what games you would have picked for yours!   

Revisiting Mafia III: The Forgotten Masterpiece

Written by: Nick Farinola // Edited by: Joe Ahart

It’s tough giving anything, let alone a video game, a perfect score. Calling something a masterpiece seems completely subjective. What defines a masterpiece? Generally, it’s widely accepted as such by a large audience. Christopher Nolan’s Inception is a not only a technical masterpiece, but also a narrative one. 2018’s incredible God of War developed by Santa Monica Studios is widely regarded as a “masterpiece.” Most seem to forget that people have different opinions about, well, everything. Of those two examples I listed, there are probably a bunch of people that would disagree with me. Go ahead, search “God of War isn’t that great” on Reddit, and I guarantee you that you’ll find a page full of people supporting this claim. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but not everyone loves what you love. Case in point: Mafia III.

If someone told me they could tell whether a game would be “good” or “bad” just based off of the title screen, I’d tell them to get their head checked out. Mafia III challenges my video game ideologies. Right from the get go, Jimi Hendrix’s cover of “All Along the Watchtower” blasts as the start screen is revealed. It’s simplistic, the game’s title slapped across the screen set over a beautifully drab marsh area of the New Orleans bayou circa 1968. I sat on the start screen until the song finished, and I knew that I was in for a treat.

Although Mafia III carries the three in its name (along with a few characters from previous entries in the series), it couldn’t be any different from the previous titles. It challenges the player by presenting a world divided by racism and hatred. Lincoln Clay is your name. He’s a tough-as-nails, hard-hitting mother (expletive). After coming home from the war in Vietnam, Lincoln tries to settle back into a “normal” life, but when his family is betrayed and murdered by the Italian mob gang known as the Dixies, Lincoln is dragged back into the violence. Shot in the head and left to burn, Lincoln is saved and cared for by the local priest, Father James. After months of recovering, Lincoln attempts to take back the streets from the Dixie gang, and spill the blood of those that murdered his loved ones.

Don’t let this simple exposition fool you, however. Mafia III boasts one of the most mature, violent, and emotional narratives this medium has ever seen. It’s told through past, present, and future seamlessly, and the voice actors bring life to both main and side characters. One of the most striking differences from the first two games is the gratuitous nature of the violence. Lincoln is no stranger to death, and boy does he prove that thoroughly. The violence is what you would commonly see in a Grindhouse movie theater; it’s nasty, exaggerated, yet oddly satisfying. Lincoln’s motivations give reason for the violence, making every mobster I wipe from the streets of New Orleans all the more gratifying.

Although, I have given Mafia III a ton of praise, most of its mechanics are taken from other open-world action games. The ‘nemesis system’ from the Shadow of Mordor series appears here, albeit much more simplistic. This is where Mafia III’s biggest issues arises: it’s repetitive as hell. In order to drive the story forward, Lincoln must basically control the districts of New Orleans by sweeping away the leaders of the Dixie gang. The tasks you do in each area eventually open up a long story quest which sees Lincoln infiltrating an enemy base in order to assassinate a superior leader within the gang. The tasks in between involve draining the money supply of the smaller leaders by either killing said leaders, burning weapon caches, stealing commercial vehicles and drugs, etc. At first, it all feels fresh enough to continue your pursuit of Sal Marcano, the evil mastermind behind everything. However, that all changes after you’ve done it more times than the amount of fingers on each hand. It almost feels grindy, but without a leveling system. There are certain upgrades you could buy for Lincoln including health, armor, and ammo increases, but if you’re looking for a complex leveling tree out of something like Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, you will surely be disappointed.

[Image courtesy of gamerevolution.com]

The other glaring issue is the technical bugs. The game includes everything from funny glitches to progress-halting bugs that seriously live to annoy. For example, I had finally depleted one of the leaders’ money supply enough to unlock the big story mission to hunt him down, but the NPC that was supposed to offer me this quest got stuck in a ridiculous smoking animation that didn’t allow me to continue. I walked up to the NPC, where it prompted me to press “X” to talk to him. I did just as I was asked, but nothing happened. The NPC continued smoking his cigarette that never once touched his mouth (but rather the side of his cheek). I had to close the game and reopen it in order to progress through the story. Yeah, it’s a petty thing to complain about, but it really starts to get on my nerves when it happens enough times to where I begin to notice it. Also, don’t even get me started on the driving in this game. It’s atrocious. What’s even more terrible is that there’s an entire DLC based off of driving under pursuit. It’s wonky and poorly controlled. Again, not a deal breaker.

Towards the end of my playthrough though I felt immediately compelled to play it again, something I never feel for any other game besides the Assassin’s Creed series. The narrative was insanely emotional with poignant performances all around, and the gameplay loop (although repetitive) offered hours of glorious violence. Some of the noticeable bugs were terribly annoying, but they never took away from my love for this game. It’s more serious and hard-hitting with its themes of racism and violence than GTA or Saints Row, and it offered one of gaming’s most compelling central characters. Lincoln Clay is the product of hate, and unleashing him in the streets of New Orleans has never been so fun. Mafia III, to me, is a masterpiece because it achieved what it set out to do: deliver a brutal and emotionally-charged narrative inside a beautifully rendered world at the height of American racism. You felt unwelcome, and I loved that.

The game reportedly sold very well overseas with sales being 58.7% more than that of Mafia II. On November 2, 2016, Take-Two Interactive announced that the game shipped in 4.5 million in it first week, setting a new launch record for 2K Games. However, in 2017, development at Hangar 13 reportedly split into two groups, one focused on downloadable content for Mafia III, and one building the concepts for Mafia IV.

Have you played Mafia III? What are your thoughts on it? Let me know down in the comments, and as always thanks for reading!