I am vengence...I am the night...I AM HACKMAN!: A video game review of Watch_Dogs

    At E3 2012, Ubisoft revealed to the world a new ip that would take the crowds by storm, having people clamor and beg for it for months on end. This game was Watch_Dogs, an open world, action adventure, stealth game, where the chief mechanic was that you could hack and use the city as your weapon. As the months rolled on by, and the next gen consoles were revealed to the world, Ubisoft made a deal with sony, so they could bundle the game with their console the PS4. Pre-orders for this bundle were high until october of 2013, when Ubisoft announced that the game was going to be delayed until May 2014. This caused many people to rage, and more to lose faith in the game. They preordered the game with the console! A few months later and the game finally came out, but was it the game that we were promised 2 years ago? I decided to find out.

Story
    The story of Watch_Dogs is set in a world where the Northeast Blackout of 2003 was actually caused by a hacker, and to fix that problem, cities have had everything connected onto one large server. It is about a hacker, Aiden Pearce, and after a botched job, trying to hack into a hotel, a hit was called on him. When the hit was held out in a tunnel with Aiden's car, his niece, age 6, dies in the car accident. A year later, Aiden, working alongside a hitman named Jordi and a mysterious hacker, has begun a crusade to stop crime in the city of Chicago as a vigilante. On his crusade, he must find the man who ordered the hit, stop his demented ex-partner from ruining his cause, and topple the criminal empire plaguing the great city.
   As I read this short premise of the story, it sounds quite a lot like a comic origin, which isn't really a bad thing if executed correctly. For the most part, the game does execute it very well. The character of Aiden does well as the stoic hero, who feels shame for what he has done in his life. You see a man who wishes to correct his mistake, but also cares for his family, rather than try and cut them out of his life like most superheroes. The antagonists of the game can truly be compared as Aiden's supervillain rogues gallery. 
    The main antagonist is Damien Brenks, Aiden's ex-partner, who has come back to the city, in his attempt to try and find something, using Aiden to get it. Damien is witty, unkind, and occasionally funny. I would call him Aiden's Joker, but unlike the Joker who has no plan usually, Damien has a plan and a goal. If anything, he is Aiden's Moriarty, always bantering, always getting the better of him, always scheming. He is a truly brilliant dark mirror image to the protagonist, where people now a days make just insane characters that seem to rip off the Joker, in one form or another  
    The story has also provided a character that will make you think, in the form of the hitman who tried to take out the player character in the game's intro. You instantly hate the man for killing a small child, but on one collectible hunt, you find out that he regrets it, even haunted by the events in the tunnel, only doing jobs like that because he needs the money. You go through the game, and begin to see similarities in both the hitman and Aiden and you begin to wonder if you should exact your revenge on the man who killed your niece, even though he hates himself for it now.


Gameplay
   The combat system in Watch_Dogs is very simple with a 3rd person point of view. It is tailored to fit nearly any play style. Want to go in blasting? Heres an assault rifle and some grenades soldier, dont forget to use cover! Want to plan your every possibility? Heres some Proximity IED's and a sniper rifle, draw them out! Want to be undetected? Heres a silenced pistol and a few lures, stick to the shadows if you want to live! You will definitely use the hacks in the area to your advantage as well. You can lead your enemies into traps of your choosing, in the form of power boxes and steam pipes.
    While we are on the subject, the hacking system is near the best mechanic of this game. You use the hacking features mainly to help you either fight, escape, or gather intel on people on the streets of Chicago.The intel that you pick up comes in the form of locations for side missions, crimes that are about to go down, or their bank accounts, in one of the only, if not THE only way to get money. When you cause to much of a ruckus, the cops will be called on you, and this system works exactly like in Grand Theft Auto. You start with one block, and builds up over time, having the police attack get worse and worse over time, making it harder to evade the cops. That is where the Hacking mechanics come into play. You can use the hacking to crash your opponents, opening up new opportunities for you to escape. 
    The only problem with this system is the fact it can be a real pain in the ass occasionally when you need it. I can't count the amount of times I detonated a power box but wasn't trying to, trying to get to the cellphone to attract the enemy. You really need to be careful and make sure you know exactly what you are hacking into. If you hack into the wrong devices, your plan could get thrown out the window, or you could get a bounty on your head if you hack into the wrong phone.

Art

    The art style of this game really comes off as a more realistic take on the world, as expected. Thanks to next gen technology, the world looks amazing within itself. My favorite sight in the game is when i'm out on the water at night, and I see the city alive as the clock rolls past midnight. Each section of the map has a different unique look to it, which I can only assume is what the actual city of chicago looks like. From the lake side village of Pawnee, to the industrial district of the Brandon docks, to the pristine center of the city The Loop. I would sometimes just drive around, absorbing the city in, because that is how amazing it looks.







*SPOILERS!*
   Some of the character's designs,specifically the heroes, have a uniqueness to them that will make them stand out from the rest of gaming right now, while others seem to fall a bit flat. Aiden's look from the beginning always gave me that vigilante feel about him, while Damien's on the other hand just looked like a passerby with a brace. While Jordi's look sent off a Yakuza feel, Lucky Quinn's, the head crime boss of chicago, look was a little expected for an old man. The only exception to this rule was the character of Defalt, a brilliant hacker who was inspired by the dj DeadMau5. His glowing purple mask felt like his own, despite knowing he was based of the real world dj. He sent off vibes of mystery, which is perfect because you don't learn much about him, and you might see him again.













Final Verdict
    This game was overhyped, I will admit to that, but that doesn't mean that it was a bad game. The opposite in fact. The game was absolutely fantastic. The gameplay was solid and versatile, despite the hacking mechanic can be a little spastic when it comes to hacking one thing in particular, when theres 3 other things around it. The art helps provide immersion to a wonderful world and a fantastic story with great characters. I recommend this game to anyone who loves alternate history, neat  new mechanics, and a lover of fighting crime, or causing it if thats your taste.

8/10

C:Watch_Dogs>AMAZING.exe

  So what did you think of Watch_Dogs? What did you think of this review? Leave a Comment below and I hope you come back for more! 

La Furia de un Cojo Pollo!: A Video Game Review of Guacamelee!

      A few days ago I saw the trailer to The Book of Life, an animated movie designed around the theme of the Mexican holiday, The Day of the Dead. After seeing that trailer, I reminisced about Luchadors and day of the dead celebrations we had during Spanish classes. While in that swing of things I found the game Guacamelee!. It is an action platformer developed and published by DrinkBox Studios, all centered around Mexican culture. I had heard of this game for the longest time from my friends, saying that the game was amazing and fun! I believed and dived right in, and boy was I unprepared for what was to come.

Story:
    The story opens up with Juan, an agave farmer woken up by the friar of his town, to come help him at the church. It is time for the Day of the Dead festival, and preparations are being made. When Juan arrives at the church, he sees his old friend, and love interest for the story, El Presidente's Daughter. She says she's impressed as how he has "grown" and would love to see him again, and leaves. A few moments later however the town comes under attack by the undead, lead by Carlos Calaca, ruler of the land of the dead, and his lieutenants, X'Tabay,his emotional supernatural powered girlfriend, and Flame Face, a reincarnated flame headed arsonist. After challenging Calaca, Juan is easily killed by the lord of the dead, but awakes in the Land of the Dead. He soon sees a glowing blue Luchador mask, and meets its guardian, Tostada, who is the second player character, and claims that he is The Chosen Juan(yes, I groaned at my own pun too, moving on). Juan puts on the mask and becomes a Luchador, and with his new power, he will fight the forces of Calaca and save his beloved.
    So clearly we have heard of this story before a LOT of times. Pretty Royal gets kidnapped by All Powerful Evil Ruler, and its up to a Lower Class Hero to save them. It's a tale told as video games go. I'm the guy who likes a good story, packed with characters and settings, with a good backstory put in. However though the story is a cookie cutter of most platformers, the formula still works for what it does, and I respect that.

 Gameplay    Where the game lacks in deepness to story, it makes up for it in the other two categories. Gameplay is reminiscent to the olden days of Metroid and Castlevania. As the Luchador, you use wrestling moves to take down the undead hordes of Calaca's Army. You find statues throughout the game that you break and you will learn a new move from an ancient Mayan master. The first you learn is a fiery red uppercut, which doubles as your double jump for certain platforming bits, then you get a mighty green belly flop, then a destructive yellow headbutt, and finally an all powerful blue punch. You notice how I labelled each of these moves with their respective colors. That is because one other important factor about combat is that certain enemies have shields on them, that can only be destroyed by the moves of their respective color. This added definite challenge to the combat, deciding what shield you should break first, especially with the larger groups of enemies. You can also change different costumes to have different effects, such as the Chicken Suit, which gives you more health, but slows your abilities recharge.

    Another major factor in gameplay is your ability to switch from the land of the living to the land of the dead. You get this after you beat the first boss, and it will be essential for future parts of the game. Using the ability, you access other areas that you couldn't;t in the other. For example, If a wall is there in the land of the living, it might not be there in the land of the dead. This also plays into combat. Sometimes you will see an enemy blacked out, or whited out if you are in the land of the dead. That means those enemies are in the other world, which means to combat them, you have to constantly switch between the worlds. This idea is cool, making you think on the ball on how to fight the undead armies. 

    However, what seems great in combat, sometimes doesn't add up in the platforming. The realm system also takes part in the platforming sections of the game, where you need to trust that you can make it to a platform, just to change so you don't hit a wall. The game was originally released on the PS3, so making the conversion over to a keyboard can be quite difficult. I found the controls were fine up to the point of when you needed to time the realm shifts where it kicked it up a notch in difficult platforming. If one pixel of your body is in the wall, you instantly switch back into the previous world, making you fall all the way back down to the beginning of your jumping puzzle. It has proven to have become tedious over time, and I found myself walking away for a while because of rage. Some may call it unfair that I am judging the keyboard controls to a game made for the consoles, but if your going yo put it on a PC or Mac, be prepared to make it FOR a PC and Mac.

Art:

    The art style to this game is unique within itself. The game is full of vibrant colors you would see in, no surprise, A Day of the Dead celebration. I was amazed by the designs and colors, sending off vibes of the culture within itself. You can definitely feel the vibes of the day of the dead in the villain Calaca. He is by far one of my favorite designs for a villain, despite him being a stereotypical one. His skull has the markings of a Day of the Dead Skull, and with a flowing black cape, this Charro from the other side has become instantly recognizable. You have hundreds of thousands of easter eggs, given a nice Mexican twist. scattered throughout the worlds from games of the past such as Mario and Castle Crashers. My personal favorite came in the forms of wrestling posters in the background such as Mega Hombre vs. Le Mascara. On one last minor note about the art, for some reason, there is a theme of chickens also found throughout the game, though it's not a problem, I just find it humorous as my character punched and threw chickens in a chicken suit.

Final Verdict:

    This game was quite fun, despite it's hiccups, even its major ones. The game itself is a Spanish take on an old formula when it comes to story, but its an old formula that I still feel can be held up to this day. The art really brings out the theme of this world, and the design of it's villain will definitely be sticking out in my mind whenever I think of a diabolical villain. I stand by what I say about controllers for a PC, but overall it is a fun combat system, with some very interesting gameplay mechanics. I would recommend this game to some, but not to others, not on PC anyway.

7.5/10

Bastante Bueno!

Poster by NeoMonki

    I heard it is coming to the PS4 later this year, so I will be getting it so I can see if it really is easier to play on a controller over a keyboard. So what did you think of Guacamelee? What did you think of this review? Comment below and I hope you come back for more! 

Baby you Light up my World like Nobody Else: A Video Game Review of Child of Light

   Whenever I wait for the next big game to come out, such as Watch_Dogs or Murdered: Soul Suspect, I always find myself stuck with the wanting to try something new. I usually play whatever game I find and forget about it in a couple of days. This recent game I played, I have no doubt in my mind, I will remember for the longest time. This game was Child of Light, and it is probably one of the best games of 2014. Child of Light is platforming RPG developed by Ubisoft Montreal. When I saw who was making it, I was honestly surprised. The game feels like something you'd find from an Indie Developer, not a major studio. Ubisoft has been known for making fantastic games, no question there, but large franchises, and not smaller games.

Story:
    The story is about a young girl, Aurora, daughter of a duke in Austria 1895. The day after her father is remarried, Aurora falls asleep, only to wake up in the land of Lemuria, where the sun, moon and stars, were stolen by the Queen of Darkness, Umbra. After finding Igulnicus, a firefly which will be your guide through this land, you set off to find a way to save the land, and find a way home to your father. The story of Child of Light gives off this vibe of story time with a child. All the characters rhyme and the land of Lemuria is vast with oddities around every corner, like a Dr. Seuss story. This keeps building on that indie vibe that you don't usually see from a big name studio.
    Each of the characters in your party has a unique personality that people can relate to, ranging from a business pioneering mouse archer, to a self-doubting dwarf mage, to an honor-bound tribal warrior. I felt connections to these characters and their goals as I travelled with them across the land, as each helped me fight the forces of darkness. My favorite companion I had met was the dwarven mage, who shared my fear of failure and disappointment to his elders. Some of the characters were also legitimately funny such as the mouse, always on the hunt for profit, and a jester you meet very early in your journey, who tries to rhyme in prose, but always has to be corrected. The story developers definitely deserve kudos for creating a such an amazing fantasy rich world, filling it with such detailed cultures and stories. 

Gameplay:
    A few other shining(no pun intend) aspects to this game is the gameplay. The combat system is turn based, reminiscent to the old RPG's from long ago, such as Final Fantasy. Though we have seen something like that before, a new aspect to the combat came into play. At the bottom of the screen, there was a bar that had small portraits of our characters and the enemies going up it. This bar showed our combat order. When a character got near the end, they had their choice to pick what they would use for their next attack. This is where it got interesting. If the character was hit before they reached the end of the bar, they would be launched back lower down it. This was a pretty neat addition to the combat, making the player really think of how they could pull off the right attacks. 
    Another addition to your combat is Igulnicus. The small firefly guide actually helps the character in combat in two different ways. You can have him rest over your party and be used to heal, or if you want to be more offensive, have him rest over your opponents and blind them, slowing their progress on the turn bar.
    But what if you encounter an enemy who can shrug off your attacks? That is where the crafting system comes in to play. Throughout Lemuria, there are shards that Aurora will pick up that can enhance her abilities, such as add fire damage through a ruby. This damage can build up by constructing more powerful rubies, or you can take your ruby, combine it with an emerald and a sapphire to make a diamond, which makes you quicker. There are many different gems that help each situation, and each player's style of combat.

Art
    The one thing I ranted and raved about to my friends and family after finishing the game, is how beautiful it is. The artwork for this game, as I said in the story section, makes it feel as if the game is like a storybook you would read to the child. The design to each land is unique in it's own way, making 2 lands completely original in its own way. From a floating city, to a small town on the shoulder of a giant, to the lava filled insides of that giant, I gazed in awe at every time the screen loaded. Almost everything is on a 2-d plane, including all of the party you get on the way. The only characters that are 3-d modeled are the characters from Austria, such as the player's character Aurora. The 2-d Characters each have a unique look to them, except one pair, but as they are siblings I let it slide. 

Final Verdict:
    This game has easily earned it's spot as one of my personal runners for game of the year 2014. The Art sets the game apart from others I see now a days from big studios. The gameplay is a fun new twist on an old style of combat, and a simple fun crafting system always has me clamoring for more. The story is a coming of age tale that deserves to be a movie or an actual book. Overall I enjoyed this game and recommend it to anyone, not just if they are bored, but if they want to go on an adventure.

10/10

I'M SO ESTATIC! THIS IS FANTASTIC!

So what did you think of Child of Light? What did you think of this Review? Comment below and I hope you come back for more!