Rise of the Tomb Raider Review

Rise of the Tomb Raider is the sequel to Crystal Dynamics' critically acclaimed Tomb Raider reboot. Following the story of Lara Croft after the events of the first game, she seeks to uncover the truth behind her father's assumed suicide. Before his death Richard Croft was researching rumors of immortality that could be found in the lost city of Kitezh and Lara follows these clues not only to uncover the mysteries of Kitezh but to find out the reasons to why her father had committed suicide.

Pros:

• Engaging and interesting plot that contains both obvious and not so obvious twists.
• The story further provides the player with information about Lara and her past as well as possible future.
• Great voice acting across the board.
• Visually spectacular locations and settings which spans across different environments in a linear open world.
• Well designed zones and maps that provide the player with multiple ways to deal with enemies or puzzles.
• Zones are designed to have a completion list allowing the completionists to strive towards 100% the game.
• Tight controls and movements of Lara allows the player to engage the enemy smoothly.
• Large arsenal of weapons and gadgets that allows the user to deal with a situation in their own style; going complete stealth or guns blazing.
• Maps have multiple sources of materials from plants to animals and chests that lets the player use to upgrade their gear.
• Consistency of acquiring the materials lets the player progressively upgrade their gear without being a grind or being too easy.
• Whatever action Lara performs will grant experience that can be used to unlock both passive and active abilities for Lara.
• Unique outfits that gives a few buffs to Lara, although the amount of buffs isn't that many.
• Compared to the last game tombs are a lot better designed in that the puzzle solving is a lot more intricate.

Cons:

• Somewhat short, similar to the previous games.
• Although interesting the plot is predictable.

Overall, I would recommend Rise of the Tomb Raider to anyone who enjoys action adventure games. If you enjoyed the last title in the series than Rise of the Tomb Raider improves on every aspect present in the last game. The story is also picking up as it's no longer telling of Lara's origin story but more so crafting a story with interesting characters by itself.

9/10

Doom 2016 - Multiplayer Thoughts

After the Open Beta of the Doom multiplayer component, a lot of players have said that the multiplayer is mediocre and boring. Although the multiplayer is mediocre it is by no means boring. The gameplay of multiplayer is fast, action-packed and intense in a lot of situations from BUT it does also suffer from a lot of questionable design decisions and all in all it does feel quite mediocre.

Starting off with gameplay. The movement and the guns both feel perfect because they are just ported over from the singleplayer aspect. The point where the mediocrity starts to creep in is the design decisions and one of the biggest complaints most players have is the hack modules. Hack modules are basically some kind of buff added to your player to give you a slight advantage in combat. One of them shows you the cooldown on map item respawns whilst others show you the enemies health above their heads. Although these are more fair and less advantageous towards the player with them active, there are hack modules that can result in your easy victory over other players. One of them being a wall hack where the game highlights certain enemies, based on your active hack module, that allows you to see them through walls and that in itself is just broken.

The pickups in the game are fair especially the ammo and health but sometimes the armor pickups can be too overpowered on players lucky enough to get them. Giving a player more health, thus more time to kill, means that it's less of a game focused on skill but more so on luck of getting the right item at the right time. It just breaks the game to have players slightly more overpowered than other players on the field. Sadly, there is also a hack module that gives you armor at the start of the spawn. This is extremely unfair to some players as they spawn with a boon but it also helps deny the kill from players trying to kill you because of the bad spawns.

Doom suffers from some of the worst spawning I've ever seen in any game. There seems to be no consistent formula to where you and other enemies spawn. Sometimes you spawn miles away from the action whilst sometimes they spawn in right in front of 3 enemies running towards you. I can't wrap my head around the spawn system to the point where ganking is pretty much extremely difficult to pull of.

Weapons in general feel balanced although the chaingun has been overly used due to its massive damage even at range and continuous high rate of fire. Id Software's suppport of the game since release has been none to minimal. There have been complaints of certain aspects of the game the developers are not doing anything about, not even mentioning all the hackers present in the game.

Doom's multiplayer is still an extremely fun game. Just a barebones FPS game with no attachments and no perks can make the game really fun. Though this fun is torn down by the garbage addition of hack modules and the armor being slightly unbalanced.

Missed potential with Uncharted 4

Naughty Dogs' newest game, Uncharted 4, has released with critical acclaim across all media boards and it seems set to be in the running for game of the year. Although the game itself is quite a visual, technical and narrative marvel I personally feel that Naughty Dog has decided to take the safe route with Uncharted 4 instead of doing something 'a bit more unique' like they did with The Last of Us.

Uncharted 4 is said to be the last Uncharted game and the game was a fantastic closing chapter to the Nathan Drake story. Similar to previous titles in the franchise Uncharted 4 follows the story of Nathan Drake and his adventures through exotic and historical locations across the world. It also features parkour and climbing, a staple of all Uncharted games, mixed with puzzle solving and some gunplay. This might sound all well a good for a sequel but when compared to their previous game, The Last of Us, and the direct competitor, The Rise of the Tomb Raider, I feel that Uncharted 4 falls short in providing more content than the other two games.

Both TLOU and ROTR not only features pretty much all the gameplay in Uncharted 4 but more so it adds more elements of progression such as leveling, crafting, skills and looting. Though some may want their Uncharted experience to be a bit straight forward and let it be more of an interactive movie than an in depth game. Maybe Naughty Dog wanted to play it safe and not add any extra content and leave the extra gameplay elements to a TLOU sequel (if there ever is one) than trying to shoehorn that style of gameplay into Uncharted 4.

I can understand that adding that kind of content can cause the game to become completely different from the vision that Naughty Dog wanted to achieve with Uncharted but when I finished the game I felt like a wanted a bit more. A bit more story, a bit more actions, a bit more Uncharted BUT alas I was left slightly disappointed at the overall length of the game being around 12 hours or so. I could go back and discover all the secret treasures or notes but I'm not really the kind of gamer to go through a story focused game again so quickly. There needs to be more ways to play the game than the content already offered.

It's a fantastic game, don't get me wrong, i'll probably will play the game in a few months or years just to re-experience the story. But I just can't not feel like after all the delays, after all the effort that the game only managed 12 hours with no new mechanics and ultimately felt like a movie sequel more so than a game sequel.

Dark Souls 3 Review (Japanese Early Release)

Dark Souls 3 is the third entry in the Dark Souls franchise and is also the fifth game developed by FromSoftware after their cult classic Demon Souls which was directed by the genius Hidetaka Miyazaki. The series of action RPG games with brutally difficult combat has become somewhat of a group of niche titles satisfying veterans and newcomers alike. Dark Souls 3 is no different from its predecessors though that isn't a bad thing.

The third entry into the franchise started me off as Unkindled ash, risen from my grave in the Cemetery of Ash. I spend the first few moments creating my character. There are multiple classes to choose from ranging from your typical knights to mages and everything inbetween as well as the returning deprived class, a class that starts you at the lowest level and is only for those looking for a challenge in the early stages of the game. In this case I chose the knight, I knew I was eventually going to wield a greatsword and it felt right to pick a class suited to my future build.

I run around, throw a few swings of my sword just to get a feel of things and this definitely feels like Dark Souls. A few steps forward after defeating some relatively easy undead foes I see an item on the ground indicated by a glowing white ball of light and pick it up; Ashen Estus Flask. Dark Souls 3 has the addition of the mana system that existed in Demon Souls and has been brought back into Dark Souls 3. The Ashen Estus Flask is used to restore any lost mana or Focus Points as it's known in DS3, alongside the Estus Flask, your regular healing potion.

Fighting through some easy undead enemies I come upon an arena with an ominous knight kneeling in the center. Iudex Gundyr, the first boss of the game. Being someone who's adept at the combat in Dark Souls I down him on my first go. To some, Iudex's second phase may surprise and ultimately kill you if you're not careful but because of my need to spoil myself I already knew of this. I was prepared for the fight knowing full well what to expect. The second phase of other bosses is something I wasn't expecting to happen often within boss fights in the future but boy was I wrong.

After my victory over Iudex Gundyr I went onwards towards the hub of DS3, Firelink Shrine. Firelink Shrine acts as your safe place to level up, buy and sell items, upgrade and infuse weapons as well as commune with NPCs. Upon lighting the Bonfire in the centre you can rest and restore your lost Health, Focus Points and Estus Flasks ready for the next fight. The Bonfire also acts as your fast travel point, similar to that of Dark Souls 2, you can fast travel to any previously lit Bonfire as well as the first Bonfire outside the Cemetery of Ash and Firelink Shrine, The High Wall of Lothric.

The High Wall of Lothric starts off on the ramparts but the journey throughout the walls leads further deeper into the castle. There are multiple paths to take, down stairs, through doors, back up stairs, across the roofs. It feels like a maze at first but through thorough exploration and persistence the maze becomes clear. Shortcuts are created as elevators are activated, multiple entry points into previously similar looking locations are discovered. The landscape feels dense, populated by items, enemies and secrets alike. Enemies in this area are much tougher than the those in The Cemetery of Ash. This time around there are knights will swords and some with spears all of which required some deaths and learning to understand how to take them down efficiently without chugging all my Estus for one knight.

After dying multiple times BUT experiencing and learning along the way I come upon a clearing, what clearly looks like a boss room. Running forward towards the door on the other end a cutscene activates as the boss materializes, a hunk of armor with the cold flowing off of him, wielding a giant mace like weapon, Vordt of the Boreal Valley. This boss is completely different to Iudex Gundyr, extremely fast given the size with large cleave strikes, rushing across the battlefield and squashing me along with it. I die.

Dark Souls 3's combat style is a mixture of the best elements from all the previous games FromSoftware have made. It's fast and it's visceral, Stamina plays a major role in your fighting capabilities and proper management of Stamina can lead to success. Learning the attack patterns and understanding when and where to dodge allows for attacks unto the enemy whether they're a boss or regular foe.

For this boss I decided to summon some help. I consume an Ember, DS3's take on Humanity from previous Souls titles. Embers increase your maximum HP and allows for summoning of other players to assist you in your fights, it also opens you to invasions from Red Phantoms (other enemy players) that can kill you and reset your progress back to the Bonfire. The fight went much smoother and upon defeat of Vordt I gesture a thank you to my fellow co-op partner and rush onward.

After Vordt is where the game truly opens up. The landscape is much more intertwined once you're outside of Lothric Castle. The Undead Settlement is the first of many different locales that you'll explore on your journey through Lothric. The Undead Settlement was similar to Lothric Castle with multiple winding paths that all leads to one conjoined area with shortcuts and even more secrets to discover.

Although not shown in pre-release footage and screenshots the locations are varied in DS3. The Skeleton filled Catacombs return as well as what is now considered Blight Town 2.0, a poisonous swamp that will continuously afflict you with a poison debuff that slowly eats away at your health. The beautifully ominous snow covered city of Irithyll Valley and the large hallways guarded by giants in the Cathedral of the Deep and more (avoiding spoilers). All unique in their own right with fantastic visual design there to separate itself from the other locations. In your travels across these locations you will encounter NPCs, though some require some searching, and all of them have a purpose.

NPCs can be recruited back to Firelink Shrine where they'll usually act as merchants to sell you different goods based on who or what they are. Some of them have questlines which can provide better rewards as you complete each task. Though akin to Dark Souls fashion, the quests are never set in stone. They are vague messages told through dialogue of which you must discover through exploration of each area to acquire items or do specific tasks in order to satisfy their needs.

Weapons, armors, rings and miscellaneous items are scattered throughout the game, some more difficult to find than others but mostly rewarding. There are many different weapons and armors to find but some of the best items are acquired from the unique NPCs or from Boss Souls. These Souls drop after you defeat each boss and you can trade them in to acquire a unique item such as a weapon or a spell. Some bosses also offer their armors up for sale upon their defeat.

Across my adventures through Lothric and its surrounding areas I found many weapons and armor sets for me to use. DS3 follows suit with previous titles by offering a large range of weapons and armors to use but this time around weapons provide a deeper and more strategic action that wasn't present in previous titles, Weapon Arts.

Weapon Arts are a relatively unique skill that each weapon possess. Some of them are repeated across some of the more common weapons but the unique weapons have obviously unique skills. One weapon that I used for example was a unique greatsword that allowed me to do a forward flip that could do a shield break exposing the enemy to further attacks. These Weapon Arts require Focus Points so the Ashen Estus Flask isn't only used by spellcasters.

Although useful against regular foes Weapon Arts aren't nearly as useful against the bosses. DS3 features a variety of bosses, some easier than others. All bosses have a second phase where they become significantly tougher but this doesn't mean the first phase isn't any different. Each boss requires some learning and practice before you can defeat them. Though some bosses can be killed rather easily it doesn't take away from their well designed character as well as their generally unique movesets and not to mention the superb soundtrack.

Although music only plays during boss fights and in Firelink Shrine, the ambiance of the game never fails to bring about an immersive feeling as the winds howl through the snow laden landscape of the Irithyll Valley or the bubbling of the poisonous swamps of The Road of Sacrifices. It is through this ambient silence that brings so much intensity and joy whenever music plays during a boss fight.

Returning composer Motoi Sakuraba who composed Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2 and Yuka Kitamura whom is best known for the their composition of the music in Bloodborne as well as a few tracks from DS2, bring in some of the best music within this franchise. Yuka Kitamura, for me personally, provides the best boss music I've heard in a long time. Their use of a choir of vocals and the violin just brings about a sense of epicness that previous titles don't match up to.

Dark Souls 3 is the culmination of the best features from all FromSoftware games within this genre. Providing a complete combat experience surrounded by a fantastically well designed and detailed and dense environment that makes this game such a joy to experience. Although sadly it isn't as long as its predecessors and with an ending far too vague to be satisfactory as a series finale it does still hold a dear place in my heart. FromSoftware have created the best Dark Souls game they could've made and I'm glad they continued to make these niche titles.

It is through this that I say Dark Souls 3 is a well deserved series finale for the Dark Souls franchise although it does play it safe by reusing locations and elements from previous games as a fanservice to those Souls veterans out there. Although some players may be distraught at the recycling of material most from Dark Souls 1 it doesn't detract from the whole experience in the slightest because FromSoftware are the creators and leaders of this niche genre and I only wish for more people to enjoy this game.

9/10

*Note: Accidentally deleted all my pictures.

Tom Clancy's The Division Review

Warning. Now leaving the safe area.

The Division is the hugely anticipated MMORPG/third-person shooter hybrid from the developers of Ubisoft Massive. Since its reveal at E3 2013, The Division has been slowly building up hype from players all around the world. Many were skeptical of the direction that Ubisoft were taking the game but many more stayed on the hype train, even through all the delays, and rode it out all the way to its release. A truly ambitious Ubisoft title as the scope of The Division is large enough that it makes some of their other large open world games such as Assassins Creed and Watch Dogs feel inferior in comparison.

Setting

The events of the game take place after the effects of a large viral pandemic during Black Friday, of which banknotes were contaminated causing widespread death and social collapse. You are one of the many sleeper agents planted throughout the United States that are the last line of defense to restoring social order and maintaining peace.

As you uncover the situation you discover that you are actually the second wave of agents to be activated. Upon this realization, you are tasked with finding out what happened to the first wave of agents that mysteriously disappeared. You assist the JTF who are the militarized section of soldiers who patrol the Manhatten streets and can sometimes provide you with backup as you engage in firefights with enemies across the map.

Central Manhattan with the Dank Zone.

Central Manhattan, New York, is where the playable area of the game is located with the centre of the map dedicated to what is known as the Dark Zone; the area that was hit hardest from the pandemic and also the region that has lost communications with the outside world making it an extremely dangerous place to venture into.

Ubisoft has definitely made the world feel dead, in a good way. The streets are littered with trash and unowned vehicles due to the panic rush the civilians had during the outbreak. Buildings are burning, shops are looted, streets are a mess due to the lack of maintenance; the world just feels like chaos and Ubisoft have done a fantastic job in replicating what it would look like if an event such as this occurs.

Many recognizable locations are available for you to explore as Ubisoft's replication of New York into a playable game zone definitely matches with reality. One of the more iconic buildings you'll recognize will be the James A. Farley Post Office where the main hub of the Base of Operations will take place in.

Gameplay

The Division is an RPG/third-person shooter hybrid. Although not completely encompassing the MMO element it does have large regions of land populated by multiple players in which you can interact with. Co-op missions can be easily initiated with its simple and easy to use matchmaking system which teams you up with players doing the same mission or activity.

The Dark Zone is the area that is more akin to an MMO PVP zone where players are not limited by any rules and players can kill and loot as they please.

The RPG elements that The Division has is a leveling system, skill/talent system and loot. Weapons do damage based on numbers and weapons may also have additional perks that are defined by their rarity and attachments.

Along side the weapon modification system there is an equally important armor system. Though not as detailed as the weapon system, the armor system is where you'll mostly be getting the necessary stats of which there are three; Firearms, Stamina and Electronics.

Proper management and gearing of this system is used to fit certain playstyles. Gearing for Firearms increases general DPS damage whilst increasing Electronics can improve Skill Power which determines the effectiveness of your skills. Though there isn't a clear cut trinity system of tanks, healers and DPS there are slight playstyles that can place you into a certain role you decide and playing towards that role can yield more advantages in combat.

Alongside this RPG system there is an equally well designed third-person combat system. The strategic Tom Clancy kind of gameplay you'd expect. You are able to take cover behind walls and vault over objects to reach better vantage points. The movement in this game is spot on. Rarely does the game ever feel unfair when you are positioning your character but sometimes the terrain can be a bit annoying when you're trying to run away from enemies.

There is also a skill system in which you can choose 2 abilities and a specialization (ultimate) ability to use from one of the 3 tech trees though are you are not limited to one. 

• The Medical skill tree filled with skills that supply ample healing to you and/or party members. 
• The Tech tree which provides advantageous tools at your disposal such as turrets and enemy tracking grenades.
• The Security tree provides support abilities that help you or your party members when taking cover or when applying pressure to the enemy.

Along with these 3 skill trees you can also choose talents which are separate from the skill tree but are categorized the same and they provide passive abilities. By customizing accordingly to a certain style you can do a ton more work during firefights as you're abilities will compliment the talents and vice versa.

Content

PvE

The sandbox map is separated by leveled areas which serve as a warning only. You can venture from one side of the map to the other the moment you start playing of which the only thing that could probably stop you is the higher leveled NPCs. There are main missions scattered across each zone of which can be done solo or in a group of 4 players. These missions are more detailed in what they provide in terms of story and loot though most of the main story missions are usually just shoot at enemies and kill a boss. Although similar in scope, the experience of playing with 3 other players and providing backup to each other whilst taking on tough enemies can be an exhilarating and I find myself being able to do a lot of these missions more than once. 

Across the map, in each leveled zone, there is a safehouse serving as a location to use the vendor to sell or buy and restock on ammo. Also in each zone there are Side Missions which serve as a small experience window in which you take on a task which can sometimes pit you against waves of hostiles and you defend a point or there might be missions where you help start a decontamination process of a highly contaminated area.

Encounters are mini missions which provide a basic objective based on which tech tree it is categorized under. For example, Security Encounters will most likely require you to protect fellow JTF members from hostiles forces whilst Medical Encounters task you with collecting supplies.

Each zone has a fair amount of these missions to do but can be quite repetitive as a lot of the missions are tasking you with completing the same objectives.

PvP

The PvP in The Division is limited to the Dark Zone only and is leveled separately from your PvE experience though it is recommended that you be a high level to competently deal with the threats.

In the Dark Zone players kill NPCs for loot which is contaminated meaning that they can't use it unless they call a helicopter to extract it. During these extractions other players may use this moment to go 'Rogue', this means that the player is marked on the map and have a bounty on them BUT the benefits of this is that if the Rogue Agent kills another player, they can take their loot. This mechanic creates an on the edge type feeling when you're extracting or even when you're just roaming around killing enemy NPCs.

Overall, the PvP in The Division is quite basic BUT Ubisoft said that they will be providing periodic updates to the game featuring new content and hopefully they add more activities in the Dark Zone.

Graphics/Presentation

Ubisoft have done a fantastic job with the graphics of The Division. The game looks sharp and believable coupled with the extremely well created map. New York feels real. Cars litter the streets, non-hostile NPCs walk about desperate for aid and enemy NPCs assert the dominance by killing and looting across the whole map.

The dynamic weather system and lighting system can make the whole world feel eerie. It is perpetual winter in New York and the sun's weak flare in the morning definitely sets the tone of a cold environment. The times when it snows or when a blizzard occurs can greatly reduce visibility and provide a more cautious experience as you make each step not knowing whether you'll accidentally run into and enemy or not.

Final Thoughts

The Division provides that MMORPG/third-person shooter hybrid and is one of the most fantastic experiences I've had to date. Going at the game solo or in a group provide vastly different experiences and playstyles. The RPG elements are definitely well-done, detailed but not too overly convoluted in information. Each weapon or armor upgrade always felt like it did improve your character as you leveled.

Though repetitive, this kind of gameplay only helps to improve you as a player as you tackle  missions and enemies at a higher difficulty which provides a hard but fair fight. Sometimes the AI can be questionable but for the most part the game is well-balanced, extremely fun solo or in a group and a game that definitely feels like it has only more to give as Ubisoft add updates to it.

8.5/10

At launch the game would do with slightly more end game content as it is lacking in that department. The Division definitely has the core mechanics down to a T and it's been a while since I've played a game as close to this kind of balance at launch.

I would recommend this game to anyone who enjoys RPG even if it is a third-person shooter, MMO loot grinding and tactical PvP.